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ELECTION 2020 LEADERS ■■■■■■ STRIKE Harris’ DEAL ON words HOMELESS follow PROBLEM Bidenon

State proposal would the trail give cities, counties hundreds of millions and add incentives to School busing clash plan formorehomes. invigoratesCalifornia senator’scampaign, By Liam Dillon leaving formervice andTaryn Luna president unsteady.

SACRAMENTO —As By Mark Z. Barabak California contends with and Matt Pearce dramatic increases in its Photographs by Irfan Khan Los Angeles Times homeless population,state PALWINDER “PAL”SINGH hauls produce through NewMexicoalong I-40. He’s seen big changes in his lawmakers could vote as 15 yearsoftrucking. “Today, yougotosome stops and canconvinceyourself youare in India,” he says. CHICAGO—JoeBiden earlyasMonday on aplan to struggled Fridaytoover- send hundreds of millions of COLUMN ONE come reneweddoubts about dollars to local governments his presidentialcandidacy to help address the problem and his place atop the field of alongside aseries of propos- Democratic hopefuls as Ka- als to cajole cities and coun- mala Harris, fresh offacom- ties to allowmorehousing Taking aridealong the manding debateperform- development. ance, continued to question The deal, whichGov. his record on civil rights. Gavin Newsom and legisla- The former vice presi- tiveleaders agreed to Thurs- Punjabi American highway dent rolled outthe endorse- day,gives Los Angeles and a mentofAtlanta’sblackmay- dozenofCalifornia’s other or,Keisha LanceBottom, largest cities $275 million in and appeared beforeblack stategrants for homeless- Forone of manySikhtruck labor leaders in Chicago, ness prevention measures. whereheinsisted that “the Counties would receive an drivers,hoursonthe road discussion in this race additional $175 million, and create time forreflection. shouldn’t be about the $190 millionmorewould go past.” to regionalagenciesknown “Weall knowthat30sec- as “continuums of care,” By Jaweed Kaleem ondsto60seconds on acam- reporting from milan,n.m. whichcoordinateservices paign debateexchange can’t for homeless residents do justice to alifetimecom- across the state. t’s7:20 p.m. when he rolls into mitmenttocivilrights,” Bid- “Cities can’t do it alone,” Spicy Bite, one of the newest en told agathering of the Newsom said in abudget restaurants hereinrural north- Rev. Jesse Jackson’s Rain- signingvideo on Facebook of I west NewMexico. bowPUSH Coalition, acam- the spending to address LocalsinMilan, atownof paignstopscheduled before homelessness. “Asaformer 3,321, have barely heardofit. his Thursday night clash mayor,Iwasalways looking The building is small, single-story, with Harris over his opposi- for statesupport, looking built of corrugated metal sheets. tion to federally mandated for morefederal support. Thereare seats for 20.The only adver- busing. But this stateisnow step- tising is spray-painted on concrete But even as he sought to ping up and recognizing roadblocks in English and Punjabi. undo the political damage, that we need to be partof Nextdoor is adiner and gasstation; Biden courtedfurther back- that solution.” the countyjail is across the road. lash when he spoke, inart- Newsom made lowering Palwinder Singh orders creamy fully, of amorebroad- the state’srising housing blacklentils,chicken curryand roti, minded societyinwhich costs one of histop priorities finishing it off with chai andcar- people realize the “kid in the on the campaign trail, and damom ricepudding.After 13 hours hoodie might be the next he has singled outresistance on and off the road in his semitruck, poet laureateand nota to residentialdevelopment he leans back in abooth as aBolly- gang-banger.” from cities and counties as wood music video plays on TV. The crowdofmorethan oneofthe keyreasonsthe “This is likehome,” says Pal, the 10 0orsosat largely stone- statedoesn’t have enough name he usesonthe road (said like PALCOMFORTS his son, Devjot Kamboj, at their Fontana home. faced and silent throughout [See Homelessness, A12] “Paul”). [See Sikhs, A10] The 4-year-old was sad his father was preparing foranother trip. his opening remarks. Notlong after, NPR sur- faced a1975interviewin whichBiden, then a32-year- old freshman senator, voiced support for apro- State is settooutlaw spectiveconstitutional amendment to halt court- orderedbusing to integrate hair discrimination the nation’s segregated schools —arevelation that suggested the controversy would persist. Bill at governor’sdesk Beforethisweek’stwo- partdebate, many ques- wouldbar workplace tioned whether the events or school rulesagainst wouldhavemuchimpact on the Democratic contest, hairstyles such as [See Democrats, A7] Afros, braids and locs.

By Alexa Díaz Justices to rule KariWilliams has worked on ‘Dreamers’ to make her natural hair in election year salon arefugefor black Angelenos, including those The Supreme Court who’vefelt pressured to alter agrees to decide theirhairstyles to hold on to whether the Trump ajob. administration may Somecustomers have end Obama-era pro- Jung Yeon-Je AFP/Getty Images asked her to cuttheir locs — tections for700,000 CHOSEN BY LOTTERY, hikerspass razor wire and landmines during an April shortfor dreadlocks—be- young immigrants. A tour of the 66-year-old demilitarized zone thatdivides South and North Korea. cause their bosses deemed ruling would come as them unacceptable.Others the 2020 campaign hits hadn’t worn their natural high gear. NATION,A6 hair in so long they forgot what it looked like. That’s Trump, Putin Hiking through the DMZ why Williams welcomes share alaugh proposed statelegislation With asmile, the U.S. that could soon makeCali- president tells his fornia the first state to pro- Once off-limits to civilians, historic border Russian counterpart, tect black employeesfrom “Don’t meddle in the discrimination based on election.” WORLD, A3 between the Koreas is opened forscenictours hairstyles. “It’s important to me as U.S. wins 2-1 1 2 ⁄2-mile-wide buffer strip near-skirmishes thatcould ablackwoman,” said By Victoria Kim between Northand South have rekindled war. Williams, whoowns Mahog- over host France Korea. But in recentmonths, any Hair Revolution, ahair Megan Rapinoe scores GOSEONG, South Ko- And please, selfies only in South Koreaopened up two salon in Beverly Hills.“Our agoalineachhalf for rea—Toreach the trailhead, designated photoareas. hiking trails and is planning skin color and our hair have the Americans, who youhavetodrivethrough It’s no Yosemite, butthe athirdaspartofits effortto been used as ways to contin- will face England in the checkpoint manned by DMZ features some stun- ease tensions with North ue to keepusdisenfran- Tuesday’s Wo rldCup rifle-toting soldiers,park ning coastline withsweeping Korea. chised.” semifinal. SPORTS, D1 near the Korean War-era ocean vistas and aclear view The coastalroute, aflat The CROWNAct, which plane and find the locked of Mt.Kumgang, the North 1.7-miletrekthat takes off passed the state Senatein Weather wooden gate at the end of a Korean mountainrange from Goseong Countyonthe April, wasapproved by the Lowclouds, then sun. gravel lot. famed for its beauty. east coast of South Korea, stateAssembly on Thurs- L.A. Basin: 82/64. B6 Don’t mind the military In the 66 years since the openedinlateApril to mark day.Itwould outlawpolicies police, the miles of concer- demilitarized zone wascre- the one-year anniversaryof that punish black employees Printed with soy inkson tina wireorthe bright red- ated at the end of the Korean SouthKorean President or studentsfor their hair- partially recycled paper. and-yellowsigns warning of War, it has largely remained Moon Jae-in’s meeting with styles. Dania Maxwell Los Angeles Times some200,000 landmines. off-limits to civilians, the NorthKorea’s Kim Jong Un, Supporters say the bill’s KARI WILLIAMS, top, It’s all partofthe ex- stuff of stories told by South whichtookplacebefore acronym reflects its inten- runs her salon as arefuge perience of hiking in the Korean men whoservedin President Trump’sfirst tion: creating arespectful forblack Angelenos who demilitarized zone, the the militaryand thesiteof [See DMZ, A4] [See Hair, A9] wear natural hairstyles. A10 LATIMES.COM Riding the Punjabi American highway

[Sikhs, from A1] There are 3.5 million truckers in the United States. California has 13 8,000, the second-most after Texas. Nearly half of those in Cali- fornia are immigrants, most from Mexico or Central America. But as drivers age toward retirement — the average American trucker is 55 —and a shortage grows, Sikh immigrants and their kids are increasingly taking up the job. Estimates of the number of Sikh truckers vary. In California alone, tens of thousands of truck- ers trace their heritage to India. The state is home to half the Sikhs in the U.S. — members of a mono- theistic faith with origins in 15th century India whose followers are best recognized by the uncut hair and turbans many men wear. At Sikh temples in Sacramento, Fresno, Bakersfield and Riverside, the majority of worshipers are truck drivers and their families. Over the last decade, Indian Americans have launched truck- ing schools, truck companies, truck washes, trucker temples and no-frills Indian restaurants mod- eled after truck stops back home, where Sikhs from the state of Punjab dominate the industry. “You used to see a guy with a turban and you would get excited,” says Pal, who is in his 15th year of trucking. “Today, you go to some stops and can convince yourself you are in India.” Three interstates — the I-5, I-80 and I-10 — are dotted with Indian- American-owned businesses catering to truckers. They start to appear as you drive east from Los Photographs by Irfan Khan Los Angeles Times Angeles, Reno and Phoenix, and PAL SINGH makes breakfast in his truck before work. He often eats at Punjabi restaurants that have sprung up along his route. often have the words “Bombay,” “Indian” or “Punjabi” on their storefront signs. But many, with way and appreciation for what’s in names like Jay Bros (in Overton, Punjabi-operated truck stops front of you on the road. Neb.) and Antelope Truck Stop “When I’m driving,” Pal says, “I Pronghorn (in Burns, Wyo.) are Highway stops across the U.S. that cater to Sikh Punjabi truckers from India. see God through his creation.” anonymous dots on a map unless His favorite sights are the you’re one of the many Sikhs who CANADA farms. You spot them in Central have memorized them as a road California while picking up pallets map to America. of potatoes and berries, or in Illi- The best-known are along nois and Indiana while driving Interstate 40, which stretches through the corn and soybean from Barstow to North Carolina. fields. The road, much of it alongside ORE. They remind him of home, the historic Route 66, forms the back- WYO. rural outskirts of Patiala, India. bone of the Sikh trucking world. NEB. Nobody in his family drove It’s a route that Pal, 38, knows IND. PA. trucks. Still, to Pal, he’s continuing well. Three times a month, he tradition. His father farmed po- UTAH makes the seven-day round trip tatoes, cauliflower, rice and to- CALIF. between his Fontana home and matoes. As a child, Pal would ride Indiana, where he drops off loads OKLA. tractors for fun with Dad. Today, and picks up new ones. Over his ARK. instead of growing food, Pal trans- career, he’s driven 2 million miles N.M. ports it. and transported items as varied as TEXAS LA. He wasn’t always a trucker. frozen chickens and paper plates. Pacific Atlantic After immigrating in 2001 with his These days, he mostly hauls choc- Ocean Ocean younger brother, he settled in olate, rice and fruits and vegeta- Canoga Park and worked nights at bles from California farms. Today, MEXICO 7-Eleven. After he was robbed at it’s 103 containers of mixed pro- gunpoint, a friend suggested duce, with mangoes, bell peppers, trucking. Better pay, flexible hours watermelons, yellow onions and Sources: Nextzen, OpenStreetMap Paul Duginski Los Angeles Times —and less dangerous. peeled garlic among them. All are Three years later, he started bound for a Kroger warehouse driving a rig he didn’t own while outside Indianapolis. getting paid per mile. Today, he Across the street from Spicy has his own company, two trucks Bite, dozens of arriving drivers between himself and his brother — form a temporary village of 18- also a driver — and bids on ship- wheelers in a vast parking lot by ments directly with suppliers. the interstate. Most are white. Nationally, the average pay for a Nearly all are men. More are older trucker is just above $43,000. Pal than younger. makes more than twice that. But every now and then there He uses the money to pay for are Sikhs like Pal, with long salt- the house he shares with his wife, and-pepper beards, colorful tur- Harjeet Kaur, 4-year-old son, bans and thick Indian accents. brother and sister-in-law, nieces They head straight toward Spicy and parents. Kaur threads eye- Bite. brows at a salon and video-chats Lines can form out the door at with him during lunch breaks. the restaurant, which opened two Every week before he leaves, she years ago outside the Petro Stop- packs a duffel bag of his ironed ping Center, a longtime mainstay clothes and stacked containers of for truckers headed east. food for the road. Pal makes a point to stop by the “I love it,” Pal says about driv- restaurant — even just for a “hello” ing. “But there are always two —when he sleeps next door. The sides of the coin, head and tail. If Sikh greeting is “Sat sri akaal.” It you love it, then you have to sacri- means “God is truth.” In trucking, fice everything. I have to stay away where turnover is high, business from home. But the thing is, this uncertain and risk of accidents job pays me good.” ever present, each day can feel like The truck is fully equipped. aleap of faith and an opportunity From the road, you can see only to give thanks. driver and passenger seats. But Punjabi Americans first ap- behind them is a sleeper cab with a peared on the U.S. trucking scene bed that’s 6-foot-7 by 3-foot-2. in the 1980s after an anti-Sikh PAL HEADS FOR ashower at a stop in Milan, N.M. Indian Americans have started truck Pal likes to connect the TV massacre in India left thousands firms, trucking schools, truck washes and even trucker temples in the U.S. over the last decade. sitting atop a mini-fridge to his dead around New Delhi, prompt- phone to stream music videos ing many Sikhs to flee. More re- when he’s alone. His favorite songs cently, Sikhs have migrated to are by Sharry Maan, an Indian Central America and applied for ‘When I’m driving, I see God through his creation.’ singer who topped charts two asylum at the Mexico border, years ago with “Transportiye.” It citing persecution for their reli- —PALWINDER SINGH tells the story of a Sikh American gion in India; some have also be- trucker who longs for his wife while come truckers. Estimates of the on the road. At night, the table overall U.S. Sikh population vary, hours away from home have made “Thirty years ago, it was hard to God. Truth is His name…. You folds down to become a bed. Pal is placing the community’s size it hard to recruit drivers, the Pun- get into trucking because there always protect us. just missing a bathroom and his between 200,000 and 500,000. jabi trucking life isn’t always an were so few people like us in the He pulls east onto the highway family. In recent years, corporations easy sell. Three years ago, a group business who could help you,” says as the sun rises. The life of a Sikh trucker is one have pleaded for new truckers. of Sikh truckers in California won Rashpal Dhindsa, a former Truckers either drive in pairs or of contrasts. On one hand, you see Walmart kicked up salaries to asettlement from a national ship- trucker who runs Fontana-based solo like Pal. Either way, it’s a the diversity of America. You attract drivers. Last year, the ping company after saying it dis- Dhindsa Group of Companies, one quiet, lonely world. encounter new immigrants from government announced a pilot criminated against their faith. The of the oldest Sikh-owned U.S. Still, Pal sees more of America around the world working the program to lower the age for driv- drivers, who followed Sikh tradi- trucking companies. When Pal in a week than some people will in same job as people who have been ing trucks from 21 to 18 for those tions by wrapping their uncut hair first started, Dhindsa — now a their lives. Rolling California hills, truckers for decades. All transport with truck-driving training in the in turbans, said bosses asked close friend but then an acquaint- spiky desert rock formations, the the food, paper and plastic that military. According to the Ameri- them to remove the turbans before ance — gave him a $1,000 loan to snow-dusted evergreens of north- make the country run. But you can Trucking Assn., the trucker providing hair and urine samples cover training classes. ern Arizona, the fuzzy cacti in New also see the relics of the past and shortage could reach10 0,000 for pre-employment drug tests It’s 6:36 a.m. the next day when Mexico and, in Albuquerque, hot the reminders of how you, as a within years. despite being told of the religious the Petro Stopping Center air balloons rising over an orange Sikh in 2019, still don’t entirely fit “Punjabis are filling the gap,” observance. The same year, police switches from quiet darkness to sky. There’s also the seemingly in. says Raman Dhillon, a former charged a man with vandalizing a rumbling engines. Pal flips on the endless fast food and Tex-Mex of It’s 9:40 a.m. on Saturday when driver who last year founded the semitruck at a Sikh temple in headlights of his truck, a silver ’16 Amarillo and 19-story cross of Pal pulls into Bowlin’s Flying C North American Punjabi Trucking Buena Park. He’d scribbled the Volvo with a 500-horsepower en- Groom, Texas. There’s the traffic Ranch rest center in Encino, N.M., Assn. The Fresno-based group word “ISIS.” gine. Inside the rig, he heats aloo in Missouri. After hours of solitude an hour past Albuquerque and advises drivers on regulations, Still, Hindi- and Punjabi-lan- gobi — spiced potatoes and cauli- on the road, it excites him. two from Texas. Here, you can buy offers insurance and tire dis- guage newspapers in the Eastern flower — that his wife prepared Pal’s not strict on dogma or a$19,999 stuffed buffalo, Baja counts, and runs a magazine: U.S. regularly run ads promising back home. He checks the thermo- doctrine, and he’s more spiritual jackets and fake Native American Punjabi Trucking. better wages, a more relaxed life- stat to make sure his trailer isn’t than religious. Trucking has moccasins made in China in a vast style and warm weather as a too warm. He takes out a book shown him that people are more tourist stop attached to a Dairy trucker out West. Talk to any wrapped in a blue cotton cloth similar than different no matter Queen and an Exxon. “God Bless b group of Sikh drivers and you’ll that’s tucked by his driver’s seat, where you go. The best of all reli- the U.S.A.” by Lee Greenwood find former cabbies, liquor store sits on a bed-turned-couch and gions, he says, tend to teach the plays in the background. Like trucking itself, where the workers or convenience store reads a prayer in Punjabi for safety same thing — kindness to others, It reminds Pal of the time he threat of automation and the long cashiers who made the switch. on the journey: There is only one accepting whatever comes your [See Sikhs, A11] LATIMES.COM S WST A11 4TH OF JULY ★★★★★★★★★ STARTS TODAY SALE ★★★★★★★★★

Irfan Khan Los Angeles Times LIFE ON THE ROAD has led Pal back to his faith, so he makes time for prayer. He doesn’t take wary glances personally. “I know who I am,” he says.

[Sikhs, from A10] afew hours later, he grabs arrives in Sayre, Okla., at was paying his bill at anoth- his go-to lunch when he’s Truck Stop 40. A yellow er gas station. A man sud- taking a break from Indian Punjabi-language billboard denly shouted at customers food: a chicken sandwich on advertises it as the I-40 to “get out, he’s going to white bread with pepper starts to bend north in a blow up this place!” “I will jack, lettuce, tomato and rural region two hours from not fight you,” Pal calmly onion. At home, the family is Oklahoma City. replied. The man left. Those vegetarian. Pal relishes Among the oldest Sikh kinds of instances are rare, chances on the road to truck stops, it has a 24-hour but Pal always senses their indulge in meat. He used to vegetarian restaurant, danger. Some of the most depend solely on his wife’s convenience store, gas violent attacks on Sikhs this cooking. Today, he has station and a housing trailer century have been at the other options. It’s a luxury that functions as a temple — hands of people who mis- to switch from homemade all spread over several acres. took them for Muslims or meals to Punjabi restau- Pal has been coming here Arabs, including the case of rants to fast food. for more than decade, since aturban-wearing Sikh man it was a mechanic shop run in Arizona who was shot by a Sikh former trucker dead by a gunman four b who settled on the plot for days after the Sept. 11 at- its cheap land. When he has tacks. Trucking has helped Pal time, Pal lingers for a meal. For Pal, suspicious glan- find his faith. When he But he’s in a rush to get to ces are more common. So moved to the U.S., he used Joplin, Mo., for the night so are the truckers who think to shave, drink beer and not he can make his drop-off the he’s new to the business or care much about religion. next day. doesn’t speak English. None But as he got bored on the He grabs a chai and of it fazes him. road, he started listening to heads to the temple. Rest- “Everybody relates to us religious sermons. Twelve ing on a small pillow upon through Osama bin Laden years ago, he began to again the altar is the Guru Granth because we look the same,” grow his hair and quit alco- Sahib, the Sikh holy book. he says, driving across the hol; drinking it is against the An audiotape plays prayers plains toward the Texas faith’s traditions. Today, he on a loop. A print of Guru Panhandle. “Or they think schedules shipments Nanak, the faith’s founder, because my English sounds around the temple calendar hangs on the wall. 20% to different that I am not so he can attend Sikh cele- Pal prostrates and leaves smart. I know who I am.” brations with his family. afew dollar bills on the floor Every day, he wears a “I don’t mind questions as a donation for upkeep. He silver bracelet that symbol- about my religion. But when prays for God to protect the izes a handcuff. “Remem- people say to me, ‘Why do temple, his family and him- ber, you are handcuffed to you not cut your hair?’ they self on the 891 miles that God. Remind yourself not to are asking the wrong ques- remain until he hits the do bad things,” Pal says. It tion,” Pal says. “The real Indianapolis suburbs. 50% OFF reminds him to be kind in question is, why do they cut “This feels like a long the face of ignorance and their hair? God made us drive,” Pal says. “But it’s just hatred. this way.” asmall part of the journey of Select Items At a Subway in Amarillo It’s 4:59 p.m. when he life.”

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