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According to U.S. Census estimates, there were 385,000 Asian Indians living in Texas in 2017. The state's thriving job market, educational opportunity, and warm climate have made Texas the fourth-largest concentration of Asian Indians in the United States, behind California, New York, and New Jersey.

Culture and the Arts Demographics Festivals and Celebrations Gastronomy Asian Indians in Texas According to U.S. Census estimates, there were 385,000 Asian Indians living in Texas in 2017. The state's thriving job market, educational opportunity, and warm climate have made Texas the fourth-largest concentration of Asian Indians in the United States, behind California, New York, and New Jersey. Updated 4 years ago PrintPrint Share This Page A performance at the Anjali Performing Arts Center in Houston A performance by dancers at the Anjali Performing Arts Center in Houston. Photo courtesy of Anjali Performing Arts. This article was first published in the Texas Almanac 2020–2021.The Indian Texan community is incredibly diverse, with the Indian continent representing more than 600 languages alongside a myriad of religious and cultural practices. Since the early 1900s, Asian Indian Americans have helped shape the state’s economy, public policy, and cultural landscape through their work in education, public health, high technology, medicine, and local business entrepreneurship.Early Immigration PatternsImmigration from the Indian subcontinent to the United States prior to 1965 was limited due to a series of racist immigration laws targeted at Asian populations. The Immigration Act of 1917, also known as the Asiatic Barred Zone Act, prohibited immigration from the Asia-Pacific Zone, which included the Indian subcontinent. Asian Indians were targeted specifically in rulings such as the 1923 United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind decision, which decided Asian Indian immigrants such as Bhagat Singh Thind were ineligible for naturalized citizenship.The 1946 Luce-Celler Act reversed this decision, which allowed 100 Filipinos and 100 Asian Indians into the United States per year. Filipino and Indian Americans were also eligible for naturalization and citizenship under this provision. The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 abolished previous racial restrictions outlined in the Immigration Act of 1917, while also providing a quota system for nationalities and regions. Under this new policy, immigration from the “Asiatic barred zone” was capped at 2,000 people annually.Yet despite these laws, Asian Indians still managed to settle in Texas in the early 1900s. These immigrants were most likely Punjabi Sikhs seeking agricultural work who traveled through Latin America to Texas. By 1930, 49 Indians lived in Texas, many of them attending universities in Dallas, Houston, Lubbock, and College Station. While miscegenation laws that were in place until 1970 prohibited early Asian immigrants from marrying white Texans, many still married Mexican or African American women.The 1965 Immigration Act led to a swell of Indian immigration to Texas and the rest of the country. The policy removed the quota system based on country of origin. Professionals and others with specialized skills were given priority under this immigration act, resulting in Indians adept in high technology, engineering, energy, manufacturing, and medical fields clustering in major Texas cities. While immigrants prior to 1965 were predominantly male, this policy allowed for an influx of Indian women to the state. Furthermore, the Vietnam War resulted in a severe shortage of nurses in the 1970s. Nurses were recruited from both India and the Philippines to offset this shortage, part of a federal initiative that provided financial and citizenship incentives to relocate to the United States.The 1990 H1-B Visa program permitted Asian immigration for work in the United States for up to six years. Texas companies were able to recruit highly educated workers from overseas when there was a shortage of skilled Americans. This visa program caused the Indian Texan population to double in the 1990s, with skilled Indians flocking to the state for professional and educational opportunity. The Indian Community of DFWThe Dallas-Fort Worth area is home to one of the oldest Indian American communities in Texas. The city served as a cultural hub for visiting Indian philosophers, lecturers, dancers, and other performers. These visitors came to academic institutions such as Southern Methodist University (SMU) and the University of Texas [redacted]. Some of the earliest community members in Dallas included Iqbal “Ike” Singh, who moved to Dallas in 1956 to attend the Graduate School of Business at SMU. Over time he became known as the “patriarch of the Indian community” in Dallas. He welcomed and assisted Indian families new to the area and founded community organizations such as the Indian Association of North Texas and the Punjabi Cultural Association of North Texas. He was a longtime restaurateur and owned the Safari, La Tunisia, and Commerce Club establishments.Kumar Pallana was another early Dallas resident. This Indian plate spinner and entertainer was active in the United States vaudeville circuit as “Kumar of India.” In the 1960s he settled in Dallas, where he introduce...