Punjabi Stockton, Bengali Harlem
Most of us are probably familiar with the history of the first wave of Punjabi migration to California in the late 1800s and early 1900s. These pioneers, many Sikhs, set up the country’s first gurdwara in Stockton, formed the Ghadhar Party to overthrow the British Raj, and many ended up marrying...
J.Korps 2011 – SUJH and Border Angels
First off, my sincere apologies to all in delaying the posting of this entry for far too long.  Over winter break, nearly 20 students participated in the Jakara j.Korps initiative that seeks to explore the issue of immigration.  Here is a photo-essay composed by Josh Singh. During winter break 2011...
Faith groups file lawsuit over Alabama’s new anti-immigrant law
I was listening to NPR a few nights ago while cooking dinner and was excited to hear about a group of Christian and Catholic clergy in Alabama taking action against a new anti-immigrant law in their state. A few months ago, Alabama followed in Arizona’s footsteps in passing a bill that many are...
Conocimiento 2011 – Knocking Down Myths on Immigration
Guestblogged by Mewa Singh This past week members of the College Sikhs Collaborative and the Jakara Movement – created the first Alternative Spring Break – explored the issue of immigration by visiting so-called ground zero – the Mexi/Cali border.  While the surge of the Tea Party...
Immigration Matters
Immigration is a popular topic on The Langar Hall. Many of us being immigrants ourselves, if not the children of immigrants, the topic often hits home. Still anytime the topic of ‘illegal immigration’ takes place (at least here in the United States), many Sikhs believe that it is the problem...
No one is illegal
I just came across this great campaign to urge the American public to stop calling immigrants “illegals.”  Brought to us by the racial justice media organization Colorlines, the “Drop the I-Word” Campaign website states, “The I-Word creates an environment of hate by exploiting...
Punjabis Stranded in the Strait
A documentary titled, “Stranded in the Strait” discusses the plight of young men and their dreams to emigrate to Europe (hat tip: JSB).  This particular story focuses on a group of Punjabi men who are stranded in Ceuta, an autonomous city of Spain located on the North African side of the...
A Vaisakhi Call to Action: Standing up for Immigrant Rights
Guest blogged by Brooklynwala While many of us were celebrating 311 years of the Khalsa at Sikh Day Parades and Nagar Kirtans this weekend, thousands of immigrants and their allies gathered in Phoenix, Arizona on Sunday to protest what is being called the most anti-immigrant legislation in the United...
Sikh Boys Stranded in Ceuta
Blogged by: Amol Singh For many of us, the ability to live our lives in the diaspora is a direct consequence of journeys emanating from Punjab. Our fathers and mothers left economic insecurity and political uncertainty and set sail on ships and planes to far off backwaters in hopes of finding routes...
We Will Pay You To Go Home
As the economic down-turn leads to increased joblessness, many countries are paying immigrant workers to return to their home countries. Japan, Spain, and the Cezech Republic are paying immigrant workers to return home with the stipulation that they not migrate back to the aforementioned countries for...
The Power of Toy Planes
Stuck in Punjab? Want to go abroad? Just buy an airplane. Not a real one of course, that would be silly. A toy plane will do. Buy one, donate it to a gurdwara and wait. All your vilaiti dreams will soon come true. If you think I’m pulling your leg, just ask the people at Tihan gurdwara near Jalandhar....
She Was The Ticket To A Better Life
Pawandeep holds a framed photo of her sister. In the photo, Amandeep is wearing a pink salwar-kameez, a Punjabi dress. “She dreamed of a better life for herself and her family. All she wanted was to live happily with her husband and son like any other woman.” I don’t even know where...
Trafficking In False Promises
Today’s Toronto Star has another article on the sad but all too frequent cases of immigration fraud. In this case, a Sikh family was swindled out of tens of thousands of dollars but a crook that promised the son a $450 a week job as a cook in a Toronto hotel. One morning in February 2007, Harvinder...
US Economic Downturn and Undocumented Workers In California
As the economy’s downturn affects millions of North Americans, you wonder how documented/undocumented immigrants are impacted by it; particularly, when many left friends and families in their home-countries for economic opportunities in the West. Maple Leaf Sikh gave us some insight into how the Punjabi...
California Cultural Clash
While driving yesterday I heard about an interesting news story on the local conservative talk radio station. Basically, the Mexican father of a 14 year old daughter was arrested by California authorities for selling his 14 year old daughter’s hand in marriage to an 18 year old man. Apparently...
Achieving the “American Dream”: Blinded By Our Own Prejudices
So the other day on an NPR report (I don’t have a link, you will just have to take my word for it), a Latino immigrant man shared his own prejudices that have developed as he has achieved his “American Dream”.  He spoke about how easily he began to forget the difficulties he encountered while...