Unexpected Unions: The Punjabi-Mexican Families of California

Thanks to immigration laws and shared cultural experiences, an unexpected union occurred in California’s early 20th century with the union of over 300 families of Punjabi men and Mexican women. It began with Sikh men from the Punjab region of India migrating to America as early as 1890, finding jobs working for the railroad, building roads, and in lumber mills. With them, they carried dreams of eventually bringing over their families that remained in India. However, after a series of restrictive immigration laws were passed by the state of California in the early 1900s, these men were prohibited from bringing their family over, from returning to India, and even from owning land. The report, entitled “California and the Orientals: Japanese, Chinese and Hindus” catalyzed such restrictive laws, as it described the Sikhs as “a group of laborers becoming landowners and threatening the monopoly of the majority group,” thereby antagonizing the ‘native’ Californian farmers and igniting anti-Asian sentiments.

Luckily, the men found success in farming Californian fields, where they met Mexican women who had also recently migrated. Many of these women fled to the United States after the Mexican Revolution hoping to earn money for themselves. As both groups were isolated from their own in this foreign land, they found each other – resulting in the union of many Punjabi-Mexican families. While interracial marriage was illegal in California until 1948 and in many states until 1967, both ethnic groups were categorized as “Brown,” affording them the legal privileges of marriage. The families shared experiences of rural life, food, culture, and facing racism in America.

Read more in Karen Isaksen Leonard’s book, Making Ethnic Choices: California’s Punjabi Mexican Americans or watch Timeline’s short clip on the story.