Indian-American federal judges in the United States have become targets of fierce criticism from MAGA (Make America Great Again) supporters after they made legal decisions that blocked parts of former President Donald Trump’s agenda.

Judge Arun Subramanian, a federal judge in the Southern District of New York, recently ordered a temporary halt to the Trump administration’s plan to freeze nearly $10 billion in federal funding that was meant for child care and social service programs in five Democratic-led states.

This pause came after attorneys general from California, Colorado, Illinois, Minnesota, and New York filed a lawsuit. They said the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) had no legal authority to suspend the funds and was interfering with Congress’s constitutional power to control federal spending.

The Trump administration said the frozen funding was necessary because of “alleged large-scale fraud,” especially in Minnesota’s child care subsidy system. President Trump called the funding pause part of his “America first” agenda, saying that “taxpayer money was being drained by ‘scams’ and wasteful welfare spending.”

In his order, Judge Subramanian wrote that the states showed “good cause” for emergency relief. He said they had a good chance of winning in court, that stopping the funding would cause immediate harm to families who depend on it, and that continuing the aid was in the public interest. He also said HHS might have ignored legal timelines for distributing these federal funds.

Subramanian did not decide whether the fraud allegations were true. His order only stopped the freeze for 14 days so both sides could make full arguments.

Even though the judge’s decision was a routine legal action, many MAGA supporters reacted angrily online. On platforms like X, critics called Subramanian a “Biden appointee” and a “DEI hire,” suggesting he was chosen because of who he is rather than his legal abilities. Some comments went further into xenophobic language, calling him an “anchor baby” and demanding that he be deported to India, even though Subramanian is a U.S. citizen. Others accused him of “judicial insurrection” and trying to protect “Somali scams.”

Senior Trump adviser Stephen Miller criticised the judge’s order too, saying it would make Americans “fund infinite refugee day-care scams.”

Judge Subramanian is not alone. Several other Indian-American judges have faced similar anger from MAGA supporters:

• Judge Amit Mehta in Washington, DC, was attacked after ruling that Trump’s “Stop the Steal” speech before the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot could be seen as a “call to action” and not automatically protected by the First Amendment.

• Judge Vince Chhabria in California drew ire for blocking the use of sensitive data by Immigration and Customs Enforcement in deportation actions.

• Judge Indira Talwani in Massachusetts has repeatedly blocked parts of Trump’s agenda, including plans to end family reunification parole programs for thousands of migrants from countries such as Cuba, Haiti, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.

Talwani has also blocked efforts to end large parole programs for migrants and has issued orders to resume SNAP food-assistance benefits and stop cuts to Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood affiliates.

These cases show that legal decisions that limit parts of Trump’s policies have sometimes led to strong identity-based attacks on Indian-American judges, placing them at the centre of a heated political conflict.