Immigrant of the Day: Bhagat Singh Thind

Bhagat Singh Thind (1892-1967) was born in the Punjab of India and immigrated to the United States in 1913. A year later, he was working his way through the University of California, Berkeley. When the United States entered World War I, Thind joined the U.S. Army. Honorably discharged in December, 1918, he in 1920 applied for U.S. citizenship. Since several applicants from India had previously been granted U.S. citizenship, Thind too was approved by the district court. However a naturalization examiner appealed the decision.

In 1923, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that “Hindus” are “aliens ineligible to citizenship” in United States vs. Bhagat Singh Thind, 261 U. S. 204. From 1790-1952, the U.S. immigration laws generally required that an immigrant be “white” to naturalize and become a U.S. citizen, which resulted in the denial of naturalization to many immigrants from Asia.  For analysis of the whiteness requirement in court decisions, see Ian F. Haney Lopez, White By Law (10th commemorative ed. 2007).

Despite being denied U.S. citizenship, Thind remained in the U.S., completed his Ph.D., and delivered lectures in metaphysics all across the nation. Basing his lessons on Sikh philosophy, he enriched his teaching with references to the scriptures of several religions and the work of Emerson, Whitman, and Thoreau. Thind campaigned actively for the independence of India, and helped Indian students in any way he could. In 1931, he married Vivian Davies.

Thind was one of the few Indians in the U.S. Army during World War I. In 1935, the U.S. Congress passed a law allowing a path to citizenship for all veterans of World War. Under this law, Thind finally became a U.S. citizen in 1936. This time, no official of the U.S. government dared object or appeal his naturalization.

For information about Thind’s fight for citizenship, click here. For information about his life, see here.

KJ