New York, Sept. 6 -- Members of California's Sikh trucking community say a deadly crash involving one of its own, which triggered heated national debates over immigration, has led to a spike in the anti-Sikh rhetoric. On August 12, Harjinder Singh, a Punjab-origin truck driver, had made a U-turn on the Florida Turnpike that authorities say caused a crash that killed three people. The crash and subsequent investigations stirred arguments between Florida Republican governor Ron DeSantis and California Democratic governor Gavin Newsom. It also sparked online vitriol denigrating members, who often covet high-paying trucking jobs that allow Sikh men to wear beards, uncut hair and turbans. "There are a lot of negative comments online," said Prahb Singh, a truck driver in Riverside, California. "People are saying: 'Take the towel heads off the streets' and 'Make our roads safe by taking immigrants off the street'," said Prahb, a US citizen who emigrated from India at age eight. "All of this before a judge gives a sentence. It was a mistake by a driver, not the whole community," he remarked. Estimates of the Sikh population in the US range up to 7.5 lakh, with the largest concentration in California. Many work in the trucking industry and related businesses, including restaurants and trucking schools along major routes. "I've been talking to a lot of truck drivers, and they've been saying, 'People look at us different now'," said Sukhpreet Waraich, a trucker, who owns an interstate freight carrier in Fontana, California. A father of three and his family's breadwinner, he worries about being unfairly targeted. "I've been driving since 2019. I haven't got a single ticket," Waraich said. The North American Punjabi Truckers Association estimates that the Sikh workforce makes up about 40% of truck driving on the US West Coast and about 20% nationwide. No official figures exist, CEO Raman Dhillon said, but advocacy groups estimate about 1.5 lakh Sikh truck drivers work in the US. That number could be as high as 2.5 lakh, given the high demand for drivers post-pandemic, he said. Since the fatal crash, the association has received numerous reports of Sikh drivers being harassed. In one instance, Dhillon said, a Sikh man was ejected from an Oklahoma truck stop when he tried to take a shower. In Florida, Harjinder Singh faces manslaughter and vehicular homicide charges, and is being held without bond. Florida authorities say he entered the US illegally from Mexico in 2018. However, California officials say federal authorities told them he was in the country legally with a work permit when the state issued him a driver's licence. The Trump administration said Harjinder should have never received a commercial driver's licence because of his immigration status and because he failed an English proficiency test after the crash. But New Mexico officials released a video of a traffic stop that showed Harjinder communicating in English with an officer. Others in the Sikh trucking industry worry about becoming scapegoats in the country's bitter fight over immigration. In a sign of support, the United Sikhs advocacy group recently held a gathering outside the Florida jail. They prayed for the victims of the crash and offered to help families with the cost of funeral arrangements, while condemning anti-Sikh discrimination. "Many immigrants have settled here, fleeing religious and other persecution, and we value the equal opportunity afforded to them by our legal system," said Gurvinder Singh, the group's international humanitarian aid director. For many years, Sikh migrants from Punjab have been moving abroad in search of better opportunities. Fragile farm incomes and scarce jobs have driven the more recent exodus. The vast Sikh diaspora reinforces the belief that migration, legal or illegal, is the surest path to stability. Since the September 11, 2001, attacks, young Sikhs in the US have faced discrimination - ranging from school bullying to racial profiling and hate crimes - especially against men with beards and turbans. At his gurdwara in Fremont, California, Jasdeep Singh heard reports of children being bullied at school since the crash. "The whole community has been put on trial because we're so visible," he said. "It was always there but now it's on another level. In 9/11, they thought we were Muslims," he said about crimes where attackers said they mistook Sikhs for Arab Muslims. The Sikh Coalition, the largest Sikh advocacy group in the US, executive director Harman Singh flagged growing concerns the crash is being used to "demonise" the entire Sikh community. Recent FBI data, he said, shows Sikhs remain one of the most targeted religious groups in the country for hate crimes....