Kash Patel was born on February 25, 1980, in Garden City, New York, to Gujarati Indian parents who had immigrated to the United States. His father, Pramod Patel, fled Uganda in the 1970s to escape Idi Amin’s regime, while his mother also grew up in East Africa. Like many immigrant families, they settled in Long Island, New York, where Patel spent his early years in a large household, sharing a home with his father’s eight siblings.
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His parents placed a strong emphasis on education, cultural traditions, and religion. Patel was raised Hindu, and his family regularly attended the temple and prayed at home in their shrine room. In his book, Government Gangsters, the attorney recalled celebrating major festivals such as Navratri and Diwali and attending large Indian weddings, which he described as far more elaborate than typical American ceremonies.
Despite maintaining their religious and cultural roots, Patel’s parents embraced American values. He noted that his family was proud to be American now, valuing hard work, fairness, and personal responsibility without expecting special treatment. By 1988, his parents had registered as Republicans, aligning with conservative ideals during the Reagan era.
His father eventually became Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at a global distributor of aircraft bearings.
Growing up in Garden City, Patel was part of a predominantly white community. The 1990 census recorded that about 96 percent of the town’s 22,000 residents were white, making Patel one of the few students of color at Garden City High School. He described the experience as isolating at times but credited it with shaping his adaptability.
His interest in law was sparked during his teenage years when Patel caddied for wealthy defense attorneys at a local country club. Listening to their courtroom stories, the future lawyer envisioned himself as a first-generation immigrant lawyer working at a prestigious law firm. However, after earning degrees from the University of Richmond and Pace University’s law school, Kash struggled to find a job in Big Law.
While Patel followed many of his family’s traditions, he also had his own experiences that set him apart. He fondly recalled how he and his father would secretly sneak out to eat butter chicken at a restaurant in Little India on 72nd Street, as his mother, a strict vegetarian, did not allow meat in the house.
Even though Patel was born and raised in the United States, he has expressed a deep connection to India. While he has never lived there, his Gujarati heritage and upbringing in a traditional Indian household have kept him closely tied to his roots. His senior yearbook quote, taken from Jewish theologian Abraham Joshua Heschel, reflected his perspective on identity and discrimination: “Racism is man’s gravest threat—the maximum of hatred for a minimum reason.”
Patel’s background as a Gujarati American, Hindu, and son of East African immigrants has remained an integral part of his story.
