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Born in Mahilpur, Punjab, India, on May 18, 1894, Pandit Mehar “P.M.” Chand was an early Asian Beaumont resident and business owner. After moving to Lahore (current day Pakistan) as a child, Chand immigrated to the United States in 1913. He and friend Kayaun Sing “K.S.” Joe moved to a rice farm near Beaumont in 1918, and one year later, Chand married Eulalia “Lola” Torres. In October 1921, Chand and K.S. Joe purchased a grocery store in downtown Beaumont on Crockett Street. He filed a petition of naturalization to become a United States citizen on February 14, 1923, but just five days later, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in U.S. v. Bhagat Singh Thind that Indian citizens were not white and therefore could not be granted U.S. citizenship. Chand’s application was thereafter rejected.
In the early 1920s, a growing nationwide white nationalism and xenophobia movement manifested in Beaumont. In April 1923, P.M. Chand and K.S. Joe were tried, along with three black men, for an interstate conspiracy to sell cigarettes. Initially sentenced to two years in federal prison at Fort Leavenworth, Chand pled to stay with his wife and children, and his sentence was reduced to a $500 fine. Chand made efforts to build strong bonds in the community, participating in a Sunday school group educating participants about his Hindu faith, and speaking against school segregation. In 1936, the immigration naturalization service notified Chand they intended to deport him based on his previous conviction. The community rallied in Chand’s defense, and on April 26, 1937, President Franklin Roosevelt officially pardoned Chand. In 1946, President Harry Truman signed the Luce-Celler Act, allowing Indians to apply for citizenship. On November 23, 1949, Chand’s second petition for naturalization was accepted and he became a U.S. citizen. Chand continued to operate his business until 1966. He died in 1977.
(2023)
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