A 53-year-old Indian-origin woman was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in the US state of Texas last month. Meenu Batra, a court interpreter, alleges she was held for 24 hours without food or water after her arrest and denied medication for several days.
Batra was arrested on March 17 at Harlingen International Airport while travelling to Milwaukee for work. She remains in custody at the El Valle Detention Centre in Raymondville.
In a habeas corpus petition, she also alleged officers made her pose for photographs while handcuffed, The Guardian reported.
‘Can’t be here forever’
Batra was stopped by plainclothes agents after clearing security, as per her sworn deposition. She said they did not display badges and questioned her immigration status.
When told she had a deportation order, Batra replied that she had valid work authorisation under “withholding of removal,” granted in 2000. “That doesn’t mean you can be here forever,” she recalled an agent saying. “I just complied,” she told the Texas Observer.
She alleged that after her arrest, officers made her pose for photos with her hands behind her back to make it look like she was still handcuffed. The images were “for social media”, they allegedly said.
{{/usCountry}}She alleged that after her arrest, officers made her pose for photos with her hands behind her back to make it look like she was still handcuffed. The images were “for social media”, they allegedly said.
{{/usCountry}}“This made me feel humiliated and treated like a criminal,” she said, as per The Guardian.
She also allegedly fell sick with a respiratory infection and lost her voice within days of detention.
Describing her detention, she added, “It feels bizarre. I don’t know how else to put it. Here I am just staring at the wall wondering what exactly I’m doing here but also what is anybody doing here.”
Who is Meenu Batra?
Meenu Batra, who fled anti-Sikh violence in India in the 1980s after her parents were killed, has lived in the US for over 35 years. She is the only licensed court interpreter in Texas for Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu and has worked in immigration courts for more than two decades.
Her legal status prevents deportation to India but not to a third country. Her attorney, Deepak Ahluwalia, said authorities have not disclosed any destination.
Batra is a single mother to four children, as per CBS News. Her family has also been affected. One of her sons, who recently enlisted in the US army, has applied for parole on her behalf.
"I've done a lot for my country... All I ask for my country to do for me is get my mom back," her son told CBS News.
What the Donald Trump government said
A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said Batra has “a final order of removal from an immigration judge in 2000.”
A spokesperson told the Texas Observer, “She will remain in ICE custody pending removal and will receive full due process.” “Employment authorisation does NOT confer any type of legal status in the United States,” they added, saying the department is encouraging all “illegal aliens” to “self-deport.”
Batra’s lawyers say her detention violates due process and are seeking her release. A federal court is expected to hear her petition, with the government required to respond by April 21.