“I was aware of the considerable prejudice against the people of Asia in California and knew that few opportunities existed for me or people of my nationality in the state at that time. I was not a citizen and could not become one. The only way Indians in California could make a living at that time was to join with others who had settled in various parts of the state as farmers.”
Immigrants from countries like India and the Philippines had no future in America in the first half of the last century, as put into perspective by Dalip Singh Saund. Indian immigrants were barred from becoming US citizens and had limited opportunities for their survival. Dalip Singh Saund, with a PhD in Mathematics from the University of California, Berkeley, was forced to join other Indian immigrants in agriculture in the US.
Later, he started an advocacy movement, the “India Association of America,” to fight back, demanding due recognition in US society and citizenship.
In 1946, a law (the Luce-Celler Act of 1946) was enacted in the US that allowed Indian immigrants and other South Asians to become eligible for US citizenship. In 1949, Mr. Saund was naturalized as a US citizen and was later appointed as a judge of the Westmorland Judicial District.
The first significant movement for Indian immigrants came in 1956 when Mr. Saund was elected to the US Congress from California. This was a milestone event for Indian immigrants and other ethnic groups in the US, as Mr. Saund was the first Indian immigrant, first Indian American, first Sikh American, and first Asian American to become a US Congressman.
THE 1965 PUSH
Despite these advancements, the road for Indian immigrants to gain US citizenship still had a major bottleneck in the form of national origin quotas, with a cap of 100 people per year from India. However, the 1965 reform abolished such discriminatory measures with the enactment of the Immigration and Nationality Act. Measures like national origin quotas were removed, and a new preference system was established, with professional status and family reunification being the core requirements. This opened a floodgate for talented and highly educated Indian immigrants to move to the US for education and jobs.
SECOND-GENERATION INDIAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY
As Indian Americans, a community of highly educated and talented people, began to grow and assimilate into US culture and society, scores of Indian professionals and students who migrated became successful doctors, technologists, scientists, IT professionals, lawyers, and industrialists with many becoming CEOs and high-ranking officials of Fortune 500 companies. Indian Americans became a distinct ethnic group in the US with higher relative wealth and social status. This was similar to a natural progression growth model: first, establish roots, make it home, and develop economically.
Their success and settlement created a well-nurtured platform and a level playing field for their second generation, like any other US citizens. With Indian Americans emerging as achievers in their journey in the US, the next step was their foray into the public sphere for the greater good of the society they were part of. Due to their Indian lineage, the instinct to become politically active was a natural trait, and the rapid rise of the second generation of Indian Americans in US politics is a testimony to that. India, being the world’s largest democracy and having a successful democratic model with a transparent electoral system, instills a strong democratic ethos in its people.
Moreover, it is important to note that Indian American politicians are receiving support from other communities in the US as well. They are being supported by white and Black population groups and other ethnic communities. For instance, Pramila Jayapal represents a city with a population composition of mostly white Americans, while Shri Thanedar won against eight Black Americans in a city dominated by Black American people. According to AAPI Data, a data-based advocacy group, this means that Indian American politicians in the US are garnering a coalition of support from various communities in their run for public office.
2016: FIRST BIG STEP
The year 2016 marked a significant moment when Bobby Jindal became one of the candidates in the Republican presidential race before withdrawing his name—a big political step taken by an Indian American. He had started his political career in 1996 as the Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals. Later, he was elected to the U.S. Congress, representing Louisiana’s first district, and was re-elected in 2006. In 2008, Jindal became the Governor of Louisiana and served a second term starting in 2011. He is the son of Punjabi Hindu immigrants, and his journey into politics reflects his commitment to serving the state of Louisiana.
Additionally, 2016 was the year when Kamala Harris was elected to the US Senate, becoming the first Indian American to do so. A half-Indian and half-Jamaican, her mother migrated to the US from Tamil Nadu in India.
Dr. Ami Bera, a Democrat from California, was elected as a Representative in 2012. He was re-elected in 2014 and 2016 along with Representatives Pramila Jayapal from Washington, Ro Khanna from California, and Raja Krishnamoorthi from Illinois. At that point, the House had four Indian American Representatives. Shri Thanedar of Michigan, the fifth Indian American Representative, joined the House in January 2023.
In 2020, another Indian American Senator won an electoral race. Jeremy A. Cooney was adopted from a Kolkata orphanage by a woman from the US. His election as the first Indian American and Asian American from upstate New York is a significant development for the Indian American community. He was re-elected in 2022 for a second term.
Nikki Haley, born Nimarata Nikki Randhawa to Sikh immigrant parents from Amritsar, is a prominent Republican politician. She served as the Governor of South Carolina from 2011 to 2017 and later became the 29th U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations from 2017 to 2018. Haley holds the distinction of being the first Indian American to serve in a presidential Cabinet as well as the first Indian American U.S. Ambassador to the UN. She announced her candidacy for the 2024 U.S. Presidential election but eventually dropped out of the race in March 2024.
2024: JOURNEY CONTINUES
Fast forward to 2024, which represents a significant milestone in the Indian American political journey that began with Dalip Singh Saund in 1956. The community has firmly established its place in the US.
This is best exemplified by Kamala Harris, who served as the US Vice President and was the Democratic nominee for the President’s post in the 2024 US polls, which she lost to Donald Trump of the Republican Party. She was the first person of Indian origin to be elected as the US Vice President in 2020. She also happened to be the first woman, first Black American, and first South Asian American to assume the office.
She became the first Indian-origin person to get a major party ticket to contest the 2024 US presidential polls when she was chosen as the Democratic nominee against the Republican Party nominee, Donald Trump. She was fighting to retain the US Presidential office that was held by the Democratic Party under US President Joe Biden.
On the other side, Donald Trump chose 40-year-old JD Vance, a Senator from Ohio who is married to an Indian American and a Hindu, as his running mate. He was elected to the US Senate in 2022 and described his wife, 38-year-old Usha Chilukuri Vance, as “a powerful female voice on his left shoulder” in a podcast show in 2020. Usha Chilukuri Vance, involved in legal professional work in the US, traces her origin to Andhra Pradesh in India, with her parents emigrating to the US in the 1980s. Now that the results are out, and the Trump-Vance ticket has emerged as the winner, it means Usha Chilukuri Vance is set to become the first Indian-origin Second Lady of the US.
MINISTERIAL BERTHS TO HINDUS
As promised during his campaigning, the Trump Presidency is going to establish the high-profile ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ (D.O.G.E.), and Tesla and X owner Elon Musk is set to head it along with Indian American Vivek Ramaswamy.
A biotech entrepreneur and investor, Republican Vivek Ramaswamy was Donald Trump’s rival for the presidential nomination race but later decided to withdraw his name in January 2024 and support Donald Trump. When discussing his Indian connection, he proudly presents himself as a Hindu, like Usha Chilukuri Vance. His parents emigrated from Kerala to the US in the 1970s. At 39 years old and a Harvard and Yale graduate, he is considered a gifted individual. In 2014, he started his biotech company Roivant Sciences, which later became a credible industrial name.
Donald Trump’s second Indian American pick is Tulsi Gabbard, a 43-year-old former Democrat turned Joe Biden critic and a four-time Congresswoman from Hawaii
Tulsi Gabbard, the first Hindu ever elected to the U.S. Congress, took her oath of office on the Bhagavad Gita after she won the seat in the US House of Representatives in 2012. She’s been a lifelong vegetarian and began her political career as a Democrat before becoming a Republican. Recently, she was appointed by Donald Trump as the next Director of U.S. National Intelligence. Gabbard also has a military background, having served as a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army and spending time in Iraq and Kuwait. She is not directly related to India and has no Indian origin but is the daughter of practicing Hindu parents and has been following her mother in the Hindu faith, according to various reports.
MORE INDIAN AMERICANS EXPECTED TO BE IN PUBLIC OFFICES
This trend of increasing Indian American representation is expected to continue. In 2013, when Barack Obama began his second term, over 60 significant positions in the U.S. federal administration were led by Indian Americans. Data from a study by Indiaspora, a US-based non-profit, indicates that by 2023, this number had grown to more than 150, reflecting the increasing influence of the Indian American community in government roles in the country.
In 2024, this trend continued. Nine Indian Americans contested elections for the US Congress this year. Out of them, seven won. Ami Bera, Ro Khanna, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Pramila Jayapal, and Shri Thanedar were re-elected, along with Suhas Subramanyam, the new Indian American Representative to the House. A lawyer, Suhas Subramanyam has been elected from Virginia. Senator Jeremy A. Cooney also retained his seat.
Many analysts believe the trend set by the Barack Obama administration is expected to continue regarding the selection of Indian Americans to lead public offices.
The increased number of Indian Americans in the Senate, the House of Representatives, and federal administration offices reflect the overall trend of the Indian American community becoming more politically engaged in the US. According to AAPI Data, among registered Asian American voters, Indian Americans are the most politically active, reflected in their higher voting percentage. In 2020, 71% of registered Indian American voters voted, compared to 62% in 2016. AAPI Data expects it to be 75% in this election.
The Indian American community in the US shows the Indian fighting spirit as echoed by the first Indian American Congressman Dalip Singh Saund: fight for your survival, grow, get recognized, establish yourself, and set the bar higher for the next level of the journey, much like the India growth story.
By: Santosh Chaubey