Since 1790, Indian Americans have been in the United States drawn by the educational and economic opportunities coupled with political freedom.
Indian immigration has occurred in three distinct waves. The earliest immigrants came as indentured servants or on merchant trading ships. Little is known about them and many disappeared into the US slave population or returned home.
In the late 1890s, however, poor laborers from Punjab began coming in larger numbers, drawn by advertisements from steamship companies about economic opportunities working for lumber mills in the Pacific Northwest.

While hard workers, they faced significant opposition from organized labor, which felt threatened by the new immigrants who were willing to work longer hours for less pay. These labor groups began petitioning the government to stop immigration from Asia. In 1918, they succeeded; the Congress passed a law barring immigration from Asia.
It was not until 1946, when Congress passed the Luce-Cellar Act that the ban on Indian immigration was lifted. A annual quota of 100 immigrants per year was established.



Immigration, 1965+
In 1965, Congress made massive reforms to the immigration laws, equalizing quotas which allowed immigrants from many countries to enter, particularly from Asia. Indians, as well as Filipinos, Koreans, Chinese, and others have benefited tremendously from the reform; the communities of all these groups have grown exponentially.