E-Paper
No bed, no shower: Lawyer recounts 73-year-old Harjit Kaur’s ICE detention ordeal before deportation
Harjit Kaur was held at a temporary facility in Georgia, where she was forced to sleep on the floor with only a blanket for nearly 60-70 hours.
A 73-year-old Sikh woman, who had spent more than 30 years living in the United States, was sent back to India earlier this week following her detention by US immigration officials in California, according to her lawyer.
The woman, Harjit Kaur, was not given an opportunity to say goodbye to her family before her deportation. In an Instagram post on Wednesday, advocate Deepak Ahluwalia wrote, “Bibi ji (Harjit Kaur) is on her way back to Punjab. She has already landed in India.”
Ahluwalia said Kaur, a resident of East Bay, northern California, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials during a routine check.
According to a report by news agency PTI, her detention sparked protests from family members and the local Sikh community. Hundreds of demonstrators in California protested, holding placards reading “Hands off our grandma” and “Bring grandma home.”
No bed, no shower
According to Ahluwalia, Kaur was held at a temporary facility in Georgia, where she was forced to sleep on the floor with only a blanket for nearly 60-70 hours.
“She was unable to get up as she had a double knee replacement surgery. She was also denied a shower the entire time,” the lawyer narrated her ordeal.
“Prior to the flight on Monday, she and some other detainees were given wet wipes and told to just clean up before boarding the plane from Georgia to Armenia. From Armenia, she came to Delhi on an ICE chartered plane,” he said.
“Thankfully, they did not cuff her, a process followed earlier. One officer was apparently trying to cuff her but another said to avoid the process considering her age,” Ahluwalia added.
Denied opportunity to say goodbye
Kaur was initially taken to a detention centre in Bakersfield after ICE asked her to report to its San Francisco office for additional paperwork.
“We were able to get her travel documents. We were trying to negotiate with the ICE attorney and the government for her to depart on a commercial flight. We booked a ticket for Monday. We also asked the authorities to release her for 24-48 hours, even under ankle monitoring, to give her a chance to say final goodbye," Ahluwalia said.
“But around 2 am on Saturday, they took her from Bakersfield, drove her to Los Angeles in handcuffs, and put her on a flight to Georgia without even notifying the attorney, or giving any prior notice,” he added.
Life in the US
Kaur, who arrived in the US in 1992 as a single mother with two sons, had her asylum case denied in 2012. Since then, she “faithfully reported” to ICE in San Francisco every six months for more than 13 years, her daughter-in-law Manji Kaur said, reported PTI.
Before her detention, ICE had assured her she could remain in the United States under supervision with a work permit until her travel documents were received, according to Berkeleyside.
Kaur has two grandsons and three granddaughters in the US and worked at an Indian garment store for over 20 years. Her granddaughter, Sukhdeep Kaur, described her as an “independent, selfless, and hardworking woman,” who was a “mother figure” to the community.
(With PTI inputs)
