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Who is Babblejit Kaur, 60-year-old Indian origin woman detained by ICE?
Babblejit Kaur’s family has claimed that they have not been allowed to meet her after being detained at the ICE office.
Babblejit Kaur, also known as Bubbly Kaur, a 60-year-old woman of Indian origin, was detained earlier this month by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during a green card interview in the US.
According to Kaur’s family, she has been living in the US for more than 30 years and ran a restaurant in California with her husband till its closure in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Her detention comes amid an immigration crackdown by the Donald Trump administration.
Babblejit Kaur’s daughter, Joti Kaur, told the Long Beach Watchdog that her mother had an approved petition for a green card from her other daughter and son-in-law, who are both US citizens. She was at the front desk of the ICE office on December 1 for what was thought to be a final interview for permanent residency when several agents entered the building and detained her.
Who is Babblejit Kaur?
Originally from India, 60-year-old Babblejit Kaur and her husband settled in California in the mid-1990s, first in Laguna Beach and later in Long Beach.
For more than two decades, the couple ran Natraj Cuisine of India and Nepal on Belmont Shore’s 2nd Street, becoming a well-known part of the local community.
Kaur also worked for about 25 years at a Belmont Shore Rite Aid until the pharmacy chain closed its remaining stores earlier this year. More recently, she had been preparing to return to restaurant work at Royal Indian Curry House.
The couple has three children - two US citizens and Joti, who has legal status under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
Not allowed to meet family
Babblejit Kaur’s family has claimed that they have not been allowed to meet her after being detained at the ICE office.
“She was really scared,” Joti Kaur was quoted by Long Beach Watchdog as saying. She added that her mother was placed in a van with other detainees, with her hands and feet shackled.
Kaur is believed to have been transferred overnight to Adelanto, a former federal prison in California’s High Desert that was now being used as an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention centre.
