Dalip Singh Saund (September 20, 1899 – April 22, 1973) was an Indian-American politician who served in the United States House of Representatives from California's 29th congressional district as a member of the Democratic Party. He was the first Sikh, Indian American, and Asian American elected to the United States Congress. Prior to his tenure in Congress he was active in local politics in Imperial County, California. Early life Dalip Singh Saund was born in Chhajulwadi, British India, on September 20, 1899, to Natha Singh and Jeoni Kaur. His father died when he was ten years old. He attended Prince of Wales College. Saund supported the Indian independence movement while studying at the University of the Punjab. In 1919, he graduated with a bachelor of science in mathematics from the University of Punjab. In 1920, Saund immigrated to the United States using money from his brother to study food preservation at the University of California, Berkeley and arrived on September 27. He did not return to India until 1957. He graduated with a master of arts in 1922, and Ph.D. in 1924. He married Marian Z. Kosa, with whom he had three children, on July 21, 1928. Saund became a farmer in the Imperial Valley in 1925. His book My Mother India, a response to Katherine Mayo's Mother India, was published by Stockton, California's Sikh temple in 1930. He organized the Indian Association of America and served as its first president in 1942. He and the organization lobbied for legislation to allow Indians to be eligible for naturalization. The Luce–Celler Act was passed in 1946, and Saund gained American citizenship on December 16, 1949. Career Early politics Saund supported Franklin D. Roosevelt during the 1932 presidential election. He worked for Glen Killingsworth, the Justice of the Peace of Westmoreland. Saund was elected to the Imperial County Democratic Central Committee without opposition in 1950, with the aid of Killingsworth, who died shortly afterwards. He was later elected as head of the committee in 1954. He served as a delegate to the 1952, 1956, and 1960 Democratic National Conventions. Saund ran for Justice of the Peace in the 1950 election, but was not allowed to take the position as he had not been a citizen for long enough. In 1951, Saund attempted to be appointed by the Imperial County Board of Supervisors, but they selected Frank Lyall instead. Saund defeated Lyall in