一些远离家园的南亚人说，他们遭受着可以追溯到几千年前的歧视。
从拒绝工作到不被支持的婚姻，他们声称来自种姓制度的严重骚扰已经蔓延到美国，并且没有受到遏制。
“当我们谈论我们的个人经历时，人们不相信我，”尼泊尔移民Prem Paariyar告诉ABC新闻直播，他说他在家乡和美国都因种姓而受到歧视。“不仅仅是我的经历，我们的经历。”
但西海岸的州和地方领导人正寻求通过立法来解决这个问题，反种姓倡导者称，这可能有助于遏制这种不平等。
种姓制度始于3000多年前在南亚建立的一种社会结构。哥伦比亚大学历史学教授阿努帕玛·拉奥认为，人们生来就属于不同的群体，有着各自的社会等级、政治和经济地位。
上层的婆罗门或仪式专家被认为是最高种姓，其次是刹帝利，战士种姓，然后是瓦希雅，代表农民、商人或商人的种姓，最后是舒德拉，也被称为“贱民”。
Rao告诉ABC新闻，Shudras的成员被迫做最糟糕的工作，包括搬运核心和粪便。她说，他们有时被称为达利特人，这是一个好战的自我认同的术语，这意味着地面下降，破碎，粉碎。
“种姓制度是社会等级的引擎，也是政治和经济不平等的一种形式，”她说。
尽管印度政府在1948年就禁止了种姓歧视，但它在文化上仍然存在。
“种姓运作的方式是微妙的，也不那么微妙，”她说。“人们试图通过你的姓氏来了解你的种姓，人们对了解你的文化和社会习俗非常感兴趣，所有人都试图了解你可以切入某人种姓身份的方式。”
Alok Kumbhare说，由于他的名字和种姓，他一生都面临歧视。他记得印度的一位音乐老师在他小时候知道他的名字后就劝阻他不要学音乐。
Kumbhare强忍着泪水回忆起印度的一位前地主，他曾因种姓问题骚扰他，并对他说:“你把厕所弄得太臭了，我应该让你干净，这才是你该做的。”
“这种隐含的优越感和自卑感无时无刻不在蔓延，”一个孩子的已婚父亲告诉ABC新闻直播。
Paariyar说，他的家人在尼泊尔遭到一个主导种姓成员的残酷袭击，他逃到美国寻求政治庇护。
然而，当他到达美国时，Paariyar说他的骚扰并没有消失。
在一家餐馆找到工作后，Paariyar说，他被拒绝提供那些工人通常使用的住房，因为他们都是主导种姓的一部分。
“一个月后，我无家可归……我住在一辆货车里，”他说。
Pariyar最终从加州州立大学毕业，获得了社会工作学位，并带头努力结束校园里的种姓歧视。
南亚裔美国活动家、平等实验室的执行主任mozhi Soundararajan接受了美国广播公司的采访。
美国广播公司新闻
一些南亚裔美国人表示，即使在较大的组织和团体中，歧视也很严重。
然后，南亚裔美国活动家、平等实验室的执行主任Thenmozhi Soundararajan告诉ABC新闻，她最初被邀请在谷歌就种姓偏见发表演讲，但在一些员工抱怨后，她的邀请被取消了。
“我有一个谷歌副总裁新闻经理告诉我，‘嗯，你知道，种姓不是一个受保护的类别’，这只是我作为一个演讲者想象他们告诉工人的事情，”Soundararajan说。
她说，事件发生后，因为受到威胁，她不得不住在安全屋。
谷歌在给美国广播公司新闻的一份声明中声称，“在这种情况下，有特定的行为和内部帖子，使员工感到被针对，并因对拟议的谈话提出担忧而受到报复。我们做出了不前进的决定。”
“种姓歧视在我们的工作场所没有立足之地，在我们的政策中是被禁止的。该公司在一份声明中表示:“我们长期以来一直就此类话题与外部嘉宾进行各种建设性的对话。”
Soundararajan和其他反种姓倡导者长期以来一直呼吁政府解决这个问题，最近当地领导人一直在推动禁止种姓歧视的立法。
今年2月，西雅图成为南亚以外第一个禁止种姓歧视。
5月11日，加州参议院通过了SB 403法案，这将使种姓成为加州反歧视法中受保护的类别。这项法律正在州议会通过。
“随着我们州变得更加多样化，我们的法律需要进一步深入社区，解决对他们来说很重要的问题，”该法案的主要发起人州参议员Aisha Wahab告诉ABC新闻直播。
然而，该法案遭到了一些南亚人的抵制，他们认为种姓歧视并不像其他人声称的那样普遍。
普斯皮塔·普拉萨德是反对SB 403和西雅图法律的北美印度教徒联盟的成员，她告诉ABC新闻直播，这项立法的本质是歧视性的
“我们反对种姓这个词。种姓一词在西方词典中。这是一个印度教恐惧症术语。这不是一个中性词，”普拉萨德说。
拉奥承认，大多数人将种姓一词与印度教联系在一起，但他说，“种姓和类似种姓的差异和排斥在南亚的穆斯林和基督教社区也很明显。”
阿洛克和其他反种姓倡导者说，西雅图和加利福尼亚的运动是积极的迹象，表明人们开始认识到这个问题，并愿意做出改变，以结束歧视的循环。
“这项法令是关于希望的，”他在谈到西雅图的立法时说。“这将产生连锁反应，创造一个更包容的环境，”他说。
Inside the movement to ban caste discrimination across the US
Some South Asians, many miles away from their homes, say they are suffering from experiences with discrimination that dates back to thousands of years.
From job rejections to unsupported marriages, they claim that severe harassment from the caste system crossed over into America and has gone unchecked.
"When we talk about our personal experience, people don't believe me," Prem Paariyar, a Nepalese immigrant who said he was discriminated against because of his caste both back home and in the U.S., told ABC News Live. "Not just my experience, our experience."
But state and local leaders on the West Coast are seeking to address the issue with legislation that anti-caste advocates say could help curb this inequality.
The caste system started as a social construct created over 3,000 years ago in South Asia. People are born into distinct groups, that came with their own social hierarchy and political and economic status, according to Anupama Rao, a history professor at Columbia University.
Brahmins, or ritual specialists on top are considered the top caste, followed by the Kshatriyas, the warrior caste, then the Waishyas, which was the caste that represented farmers, traders or merchants, and finally the Shudras, who are also known as the "untouchables."
Rao told ABC News that members of Shudras were forced to do the worst kind of jobs including hauling caucuses and excrement. She said they are sometimes referred to as Dalit, which is a term of militant self-identification, that means ground down, broken, crushed.
"Caste operates as an engine of social hierarchy and as a form of political and economic inequality," she said.
Although the Indian government banned caste discrimination in 1948, it has still existed culturally, according to Rao.
"The ways in which caste operates is subtle and not so subtle," she said. "People trying to figure out what your caste is through your last name, people being very interested in knowing about your cultural and social practices, all trying to get a sense of ways in which you can cut into somebody's caste identity."
Alok Kumbhare said he has faced discrimination all of his life because of his name and caste. He remembered a music teacher in India discouraged him from learning music after learning his name as a child.
Kumbhare held back tears recalling a former landlord in India who harassed him over his caste and told him, " You stink up the toilet too much, I should’ve made you clean and that's what you're good for."
"This implicit notion of superiority and inferiority creeps in all the time," the married father of one told ABC News Live.
Paariyar said his family was brutally attacked in Nepal by members of a dominant caste and he fled to the U.S. seeking political asylum.
When he arrived in America, however, Paariyar said that his harassment didn't go away.
After getting a job at a restaurant, Paariyar said he was denied housing that those workers typically used because they were all part of the dominant caste.
"After a month, I was homeless…I was in a van," he said.
Pariyar would eventually graduate from California State University with a degree in social work, and spearheaded efforts to end caste discrimination on campus.
Some South Asian Americans said that the discrimination is strong even in bigger organizations and groups.
Thenmozhi Soundararajan, a South Asian-American activist, and the executive director of Equality Labs, told ABC News that she was originally invited to speak at Google about caste bias but her invitation was rescinded after some employees complained.
"I had a Google V.P. news manager tell me, 'Well, you know, caste is not a protected category,' and that's just me as a speaker imagining what they're telling to workers," Soundararajan said.
She said that after the incident, she had to live in a safe house because of threats.
Google claimed in a statement to ABC News, "In this instance, there was specific conduct, and internal posts, that made employees feel targeted and retaliated against for raising concerns about a proposed talk. We made the decision not to move forward."
"Caste discrimination has no place in our workplace and it’s prohibited in our policies. We have long hosted a variety of constructive conversations with external guests on these sorts of topics," the company said in a statement.
Soundararajan and other anti-caste advocates have long been calling on the government to address the issue and recently local leaders have been pushing legislation that bans caste discrimination.
In February, Seattle became the first major city outside of South Asia toban caste discrimination.
On May 11, the California state Senate passed SB 403 which would make caste a protected category in California's anti-discrimination laws. The law is working its way through the state Assembly.
"As our state becomes more diverse, our laws need to go further and deeper in communities and tackle the issues that matter to them," State Sen. Aisha Wahab, the lead sponsor of the bill, told ABC News Live.
The bill, however, was met with resistance from some South Asians who contend that caste discrimination isn't as prevalent as some others claim.
Puspita Prasad, a member of the group The Coalition of Hindus of North America which has opposed SB 403 and Seattle's law, told ABC News Live, the nature of the legislation is discriminatory
"We object to this word caste. The word caste is in the Western lexicon. It's a Hindu phobic term. It is not a neutral term," Prasad said.
Rao acknowledged that most people associate the term caste with the Hindu religion but said "caste and caste-like differences and exclusions are also in evidence in Muslim and Christian communities across South Asia."
Alok and other anti-caste advocates say the Seattle and California movements are positive signs that people are becoming cognizant of the issue and are willing to make change to end the cycle of discrimination.
"This ordinance is all about hope," he said of the Seattle legislation. "It will create this ripple effect [that] can create a more inclusive environment," he said.
