between 1907 and 1908, sikhs moved further south to warmer climates in california, where they were employed by various railroad companies. some white americans, resentful of economic competition and the arrival of people from different cultures, responded to sikh immigration with racism and violent attacks. the bellingham riots in bellingham, washington on september 5, 1907 epitomized the low tolerance in the u.s. for indians and sikhs, who were called “hindoos” by locals. while anti-asian racism was embedded in u.s. politics and culture in the early 20th century, indians were also racialized for their anticolonialism, with u.s. officials pushing for western imperial expansion abroad casting them as a "hindu" menace. although labeled hindu, the majority of indians were sikh. in the early 20th century, a range of state and federal laws restricted indian immigration and the rights of indian immigrants in the u.s. in the 1910s, american nativist organizations campaigned to end immigration from india, culminating in the passage of the barred zone act in 1917. in 1913, the alien land act of california prevented sikhs (in addition to japanese and chinese immigrants) from owning land. however, asian immigrants got around the system by having anglo friends or their own u.s. born children legally own the land that they worked on. in some states, anti-miscegenation laws made it illegal for indian men to marry white women. however, it was acceptable for “brown” races to mix. many indian men, especially punjabi men, married hispanic women and punjabi-mexican marriages became a norm in the west.