alt Hacker NewsKern and San Joaquin in particular are the exact opposite of white collar professional immigration and more similar to Guyana. (My great grandfather came during that 1920s era but jumped ship in NYC instead) People often forget some of us came before 1965. Vivek Bald has an excellent book about it.
My point about Kern and SJV was about how Desi Americans are a swing vote, not the white collar portion.
That said I do agree with you to a certain extent that pre-Tech immigration absolutely was a thing (and a major factor in the Punjabi community across western US).
> more similar to Guyana. (My great grandfather came during that 1920s era but jumped ship in NYC instead
Oh dang, that's pretty wild! I thought most immigration to Guyana from South Asia during that era was primarily from Eastern UP, Bihar, and West Bengal, not Sindh/Punjab.