READ: In The Bakersfield Californian, Sen. Schiff Condemns Trump Administration’s Targeting of the Sikh Community

Schiff: "We must stand up for our neighbors - the Sikh workers, students and families who are at risk from this rhetoric and these harmful policies."

Read the full op-ed here.

Bakersfield, CA - U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), published an op-ed in The Bakersfield Californian condemning the Trump administration's policies and rhetoric that have fueled the uptick in targeted hate and violence against Sikh Americans.

In his op-ed, Schiff points to the recent escalating and alarming actions across the nation, including the recent stabbing of a Sikh truck driver from Sacramento at a Wyoming rest area, the recent openly discriminatory social media posts by the Department of Homeland Security, and the tightening of requirements for non-domiciled Commercial Driver's Licenses - a targeted attempt to deprive members of the Sikh community of their livelihoods.

"The most powerful tool in our arsenal to combat this hatred is one we can all use - our voices. Speaking up forced the administration to remove some of the racist posts that fuel the kind of violence we witnessed in Wyoming. Let's keep speaking out. On behalf of the Sikh community, the Latino community, the Haitian community, and every other community in America that has become the target of choice for dehumanization by this administration. I stand with the Sikh community. And I ask you to join me," Senator Schiff wrote.

Background: Earlier this year, Schiff traveled to Bakersfield specifically to meet with Sikh truck drivers, businesses, and community members to talk about the ongoing threat of losing their commercial driver's license (CDLs) and the impact this has on their livelihoods, community, and local economies. Schiff expands more on this in his op-ed.

Schiff also led 21 colleagues in urging the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) to restore $160 million in FY2027 National Highway Performance Program funds to California - critical transportation funding that was withheld following the state delaying the cancellation of 17,000 commercial driver's licenses.

Read the full op-ed here and below:

The Bakersfield Californian: SEN. ADAM SCHIFF: The Sikh community and the tragic consequences of a policy born of bigotry

By U.S. Senator Adam Schiff

California is fortunate to have a thriving community of Sikh Americans who have helped our state flourish: building businesses, shaping California's booming agriculture industry, holding leadership positions in civil service, and so much more. But while their contributions are woven into the fabric of America, this community has also confronted dangerous hate in the place they call home. One terrible tragedy, driven by such hate, just took place.

Just days ago, a Sikh truck driver from Sacramento was stabbed repeatedly in the bathroom of a Wyoming rest area. This violence came just four days after President Trump's Department of Homeland Security shared a now-deleted social media post that painted the entire Sikh community as a threat - telling them to "self-deport or find out." The post was abhorrent, and the link to real violence against the Sikh community is hard to dispute.

In a country founded on the ideal that "all men are created equal," the Trump White House and DHS have turned starkly away from our Founders' vision. They have implemented policies that deny Sikh Americans opportunities to earn an honest living and applied pressure and provocative rhetoric to deliberately target and hurt this community.

And now, more than half a million Sikh Americans are scared - looking over their shoulders on the street or afraid to show up for work because of the dangerous environment that these policies and practices have created.

The Trump administration has pushed an agenda that is openly xenophobic. The DHS website urged citizens to report undocumented drivers, while displaying an image of a Sikh man, as if people could look into the cab of a truck and identify whether someone was a citizen or not. The plain implication was that if someone was Sikh, they should be presumed to be violating the law and be reported.

In addition to these hateful practices, the administration has used other punitive measures to discriminate against the Sikh community. In January 2025, DHS rescinded restrictions limiting immigration enforcement at "protected areas." This change exposed Sikh gurdwaras, and other houses of worship, to Immigration and Customs Enforcement surveillance and arrests - potentially chilling religious expression and practice.

The administration then decided to tighten requirements for non-domiciled Commercial Driver's Licenses - a targeted attempt to deprive members of the Sikh community of their livelihoods. And when California did not capitulate to the federal government's unreasonable demand to cancel thousands of CDLs - many of which impact Sikh drivers - the administration threatened to withhold $160 million in federal funds. Yet, the U.S. Department of Transportation's own data shows that these drivers have a better safety record than most other drivers. None of this is about safety.

In a meeting with Sikh truck drivers in Bakersfield, Sikh leaders told me that community members have been hit hard by the administration's policy and political attacks on their community.

"We're actually more afraid now and subject to more abuse now than we were after 9/11," a community member confided in me. In the aftermath of that deadly attack on America, the Sikh community - which played no role in the attacks - experienced terrible hatred and discrimination. Twenty-five years later, the community feels even more under siege as a result of the rhetoric directed against it by leaders in the highest positions of our government. This is un-American and unacceptable.

In our nation's 250 years, we have battled this kind of hostility and prejudice before. We have taken on institutional policies that reinforced it. And in this moment, we must look to that history as we confront a new variation on an old hatred. We must stand up for our neighbors - the Sikh workers, students and families who are at risk from this rhetoric and these harmful policies.

The most powerful tool in our arsenal to combat this hatred is one we can all use - our voices. Speaking up forced the administration to remove some of the racist posts that fuel the kind of violence we witnessed in Wyoming. Let's keep speaking out. On behalf of the Sikh community, the Latino community, the Haitian community, and every other community in America that has become the target of choice for dehumanization by this administration.

I stand with the Sikh community. And I ask you to join me.

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