Indian Immigration History

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Thesis Statement
Early immigrants to America from India in the early 20th century faced a fearful and hostile public and restrictive government policies that denied them citizenship and legal protections against exploitation and discrimination. A Sikh businessman in New York became the unlikely champion for the rights of these early Indian immigrants and is credited with the passage of the Luce-Celler Act which granted citizenship to all Indians living in the US at that time and established an annual quota for further immigration from India. The Luce-Celler Act also paved the way for further immigration reform.
The United States of America is a land of immigrants and a melting pot of cultures from around the world. America’s strength lies …show more content…

JJ Singh joined Gandhi’s non-cooperation movement in India at the tender age of 21 and eight years later, in 1926, he arrived in New York after successfully serving in the Indian British army during World War 1 . Selling the “finest clothes in all of India”, JJ Singh soon become a very successful businessman in New York. In the 1930s, to reduce import taxes affecting his business, Singh established the India Chamber of Congress of America as a lobbying group. Though unsuccessful, this experience of lobbying the US government won him a lot of supporters who would help him in his future endeavors. He was a brilliant salesman with a forceful personality which had made him incredibly wealthy and very active in New York City’s social …show more content…

When this bill was presented in Congress, JJ Singh laid out the four core principles to make the case and read out the list of intellectuals and influentials who had publicly offered support for the bill. JJ Singh’s appeal was persuasive and the Luce-Celler Bill, as currently drafted, was passed by Congress in June 1946. JJ Singh stood by President Truman as he signed it into law on July 2, 1946 (Appendix C). While the entire ILA was recognized for this landmark achievement, Mahatma Gandhi gave the sole credit to JJ Singh. JJ Singh’s efforts to take a stand had paid off as he had created the first bill in United States history to provide Indians with the same rights as natural-born