WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Sikh Coalition has issued a nationwide call to action urging community members to engage their members of Congress to protect minority voting rights and defend the livelihoods of immigrant truck drivers. According to a written statement, a copy of which is available with the Sikh Siyasat News (SSN), the civil rights organization is actively mobilizing opposition against two controversial pieces of legislation currently navigating Congress: the SAVE America Act and the Dalilah Law.
Opposing the SAVE America Act
Highlighting an immediate threat to democratic participation, the Sikh Coalition warned against the newly iterated SAVE America Act, which recently passed the House of Representatives by a narrow 218-213 vote. The bill aims to mandate in-person documentary proof of citizenship—such as a passport or birth certificate paired with a photo ID—for voter registration and renewals.
If enacted, this legislation would effectively eliminate online and mail-in voter registration. Furthermore, the bill introduces a strict photo ID requirement at the polls and demands that states surrender their voter information to the Department of Homeland Security for verification.
The organization emphasized that this bureaucratic “red tape” poses a unique and severe threat to the Sikh community due to traditional naming conventions.
“Among members of our community, it is not uncommon for one’s identity documents to have mismatching names, with ‘Kaur’ or ‘Singh’ listed as an individual’s last name on one document, and as their middle name (with a different last name) on another document,” the statement noted. The Coalition warns that under the SAVE America Act, these discrepancies could “keep Sikhs from being able to exercise their right to vote.”
The release also highlights that these barriers would similarly impact millions of Americans who have changed their surnames after marriage, as well as voters of color and lower-income voters who statistically lack ready access to such documentation.
Fighting the Dalilah Law
Turning its attention to the commercial transport industry, the Sikh Coalition is also rallying opposition against the Dalilah Law (H.R.7793 / S.3917). While the bill was publicly pitched as a measure to bar undocumented immigrants from holding Commercial Driver’s Licenses (CDLs), the Coalition clarifies that federal and state laws already prohibit this.
Instead, the organization warns that the Dalilah Law disproportionately targets legally authorized immigrants. According to the release, the bill would arbitrarily revoke the CDLs of roughly 200,000 individuals who are legally authorized to work in the United States. Additionally, it would retroactively penalize drivers by revoking the CDL of anyone who legally took their authorization test in a language other than English.
“The Sikh Coalition believes that punishing hardworking and rule-abiding truckers because they happen to be immigrants is wrong, and that smearing them because of their heritage is shameful,” the organization stated.
Taking Action
The Sikh Coalition is urging the sangat (community) to “practice your faith fearlessly” by participating in the democratic process. The organization has set up an online action hub with free tools to help citizens directly contact their senators and representatives to urge them to vote against both the SAVE America Act and the Dalilah Law.
