As your constituent and a member of the Sikh community in California, I urge you to support SB 509, a bill addressing the growing threat of transnational repression in our state. This critical legislation will help protect individuals and organizations from intimidation, harassment, and threats by foreign governments seeking to silence diaspora communities, including U.S.-based Sikhs.

Recent events have underscored the urgency of this issue. In November 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) indicted an Indian national for allegedly working with an Indian government official to assassinate a Sikh American activist on U.S. soil; one year later, in November 2024, the DOJ then issued another indictment charging a then-Indian government employee with leading this plot. An August 2024 shooting on Interstate 505, west of Sacramento, that appeared to target another Sikh activist may have been an additional assassination attempt; beyond that, California Sikhs (including elected officials) have been subjected to threats, surveillance, and harassment at their gurdwaras (houses of worship) that all fit the pattern of transnational repression.

The case of the Sikh community is just one example of a broader pattern of foreign governments using threats, surveillance, and coercion against American citizens. The nonprofit, nonpartisan human rights organization Freedom House has tracked an increasing number of governments using transnational repression to targets dissidents, activists, journalists, academics, and others across borders; communities in the United States are far from immune to these threats, and we must take action at all levels of government to protect their civil rights and their lives.

SB 509 ensures that California takes action by formally defining transnational repression and requiring the California Office of Emergency Services (CalOES) to develop training for law enforcement to recognize and respond to these threats, both at the local level and collaboratively with federal agencies. This bill is a crucial step in safeguarding the civil rights and safety of all Californians.

I respectfully urge you to vote YES on SB 509 to stand against transnational repression and protect our communities. Thank you for your leadership in keeping Californians safe.

As your constituent and a member of Michigan’s Sikh community, I am writing to request your support for a package of three bills establishing a more inclusive K-12 social studies curriculum (House Bills 6246, 6247, and 6248), co-sponsored by Representatives Ranjeev Puri, Jason Hoskins, and Veronica Paiz. This comprehensive package of legislation would expand K-12 social studies curriculum in public schools across the state to reflect the deep diversity of Michigan’s racial and ethnic communities, including African American; Indigenous; Asian American and Pacific Islander; Latin, Hispanic, and Caribbean American; Arab, North African, and Chaldean American; and Jewish American communities in the Great Lakes State

These bills work together to ensure that individual educators, schools, and districts, as well as the Michigan Department of Education have the resources they need to create and execute such curriculum responsibly in partnership with communities and subject-matter experts. Inclusive education, including a strong, representative K-12 social studies curriculum, offers students of all ages the opportunity to learn from and about their classmates and contribute to a more harmonious classroom environment. As cross-community crises continue to unfold abroad and here at home and deeply impact our communities’ ability to live and work together, our children and their teachers deserve the educational resources they need to dispel ignorance early and disrupt the kinds of bias and bigotry that drive violent hate in adults. When curriculum and lesson plans don’t reflect the experiences of the students for whom they’re created, children miss out on the opportunity to explore cultures outside of their own and are unable to develop positive associations with the diverse communities around them.

The Sikh community knows this all too well. Despite Sikhi being included in Michigan’s social studies academic standards since 2019, our social, civic, and historical contributions are too often still absent from educational materials in K-12 classrooms. The lived impact of this erasure is, unfortunately, apparent. A landmark school climate report from the Sikh Coalition released in April 2024 found that less inclusive schools make Sikh students less safe—and Sikh youth, sadly, experience extraordinarily high rates of bias–based bullying, with nearly eight in ten (78%) Sikh students in their survey reporting having experienced behavior categorized as bullying.

Including Sikh American history and contributions in social studies curriculum isn’t just deeply meaningful; it can serve as a significant milestone in addressing the epidemic of bullying, harassment, and exclusion against Sikh students. Doing so as part of a wider effort to represent Michigan’s diverse communities in public education via this legislation will have similar benefits for other marginalized communities, and make for a more well-rounded education for *every* student.