73-Year-Old Sikh Woman Deported After 30 Years in US: Allegations of Mistreatment During ICE Detention

A 73-year-old Sikh woman from Punjab, Harjit Kaur, was among deportees from the United States who arrived in India Thursday evening. She had been detained by California authorities during a routine check-in with the US' Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Upon her arrival in India, her lawyer claimed Ms Kaur and other deportees - 131 in total - faced mistreatment as part of the Trump administration's controversial crackdown on illegal migrants. Attorney Deepak Ahluwalia stated that one US official attempted to shackle and handcuff Mrs Kaur, a grandmother, until another intervened due to her advanced age.

The practice of US officials shackling deportees has been controversial since ICE began these flights. In February, a significant political dispute erupted, with Congress criticizing the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party over images of handcuffed Indian citizens on deportation flights.

Mr Ahluwalia also reported that his client was transported on a small ICE-chartered aircraft rather than receiving pre-booked tickets on commercial passenger flights, which is the standard procedure. At the detention center, she allegedly received inadequate accommodations, being forced to sleep on the floor and denied shower access.

The lawyer emphasized that Mrs Kaur struggled to rise from the floor due to previous surgeries on both knees.

Ms Kaur immigrated to the US in 1992 as a single mother with two sons and had been residing in East Bay, northern California, for three decades. Although undocumented according to American media reports, she had "faithfully reported to ICE" every six months for over 13 years as legally required, according to her daughter-in-law, Manji Kaur.

US lawmakers criticized her deportation. Congressman John Garamendi, a Democrat representing California's Eighth District, condemned President Trump for targeting "a 73-year-old woman - a respected community member with no criminal record."

Mrs Kaur's asylum application had been rejected in 2012. However, her daughter-in-law stated that she never avoided facing customs officials or attempted to evade returning to India. In fact, she reportedly requested travel documents from the Indian consulate for this purpose.

That request was denied, according to Manji Kaur.

"She's eligible [and] always applied for a work permit. She pays taxes every year... She's going by the book. She doesn't even have, from my knowledge, and I would know, any violations for driving or anything like that," Manji Kaur explained.