26 Sep Grandmother, 73, Deported to India After Two Weeks in ICE Custody

Harjit Kaur, 73, spent two weeks in detention under allegedly shoddy treatment before being deported. (Photo of Harjit Kaur; other photos and compilation by Denis Perez-Bravo / The CC Pulse)

By Denis Perez-Bravo

A 73-year-old Hercules grandmother was deported to India on Sept. 22 after spending nearly two weeks in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody, during which her attorney alleges she slept on floors and faced malnutrition.

Harjit Kaur was detained by ICE on Sept. 8 and deported after what her lawyer describes as mistreatment at detention facilities in California and Georgia.

“With Waheguru’s kirpa, my grandmother has safely returned to India,” said Sukhmeet Sandhu, Kaur’s granddaughter, in an online statement. The Sikh phrase translates as “with God’s blessing.”

Kaur’s attorney, Deepak Ahluwalia, said ICE moved his client without notice from the Mesa Verde Detention Center in Bakersfield to Georgia.

“Early Saturday morning around 2 a.m., without notifying the attorney, they took her from Mesa Verde, from Bakersfield, drove her to L.A. while in handcuffs yet again, and put her on a flight to Georgia,” Ahluwalia said.

Kaur was able to contact her family Saturday evening to inform them she was at the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia.

Ahluwalia alleges Kaur was denied a bed and forced to sleep on the floor despite having had double knee replacement surgery. He said she was held in a temporary cell with others and denied showers during her entire detention.

In one instance, Kaur requested extra food to take medication and was given a plate of ice, which she could not eat because she wears dentures, according to her attorney.

“The guard told her, ‘That is your fault,'” Ahluwalia said.

The attorney said Kaur and other detainees were given wet wipes Monday night before their 7 p.m. flight to Delhi and told to clean themselves.

What led to Kaur’s arrest and deportation?

Kaur’s asylum case was dismissed 13 years ago and she had been willing to self-deport but was prevented by delays in obtaining travel documents from the Indian Embassy. During that time, she checked in with ICE twice annually.

“ICE was unable to procure the travel document,” Ahluwalia said. “Even when I saw her last Monday, they still didn’t have a travel document.”

For 13 years, Kaur worked in Berkeley, paid taxes and raised two boys as a single mother while waiting for the documents needed for her return to India, according to her attorney.

Sandhu, her family and supporters throughout the Bay Area organized protests and contacted representatives during Kaur’s detention. A planned protest outside the Mesa Verde Detention Center was canceled after officials moved Kaur without notice.

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Community Rallies for 73-Year-Old Grandmother’s Release From Detention Center<<<

“The accountability needs to be put forward to all these detention centers across the country,” Ahluwalia said, adding that he plans to file a complaint regarding Kaur’s treatment.

According to Guardian reporting, ICE made 228,090 arrests nationwide as of August, with 59,760 people in detention centers and 234,210 arrests ending in deportations. Data analysis shows approximately half of detention center detainees have no criminal background.

“It’s important to remember the many other innocent individuals who remain detained for months or even years,” Sandhu said. “Please continue to raise your voices and fight for them the same way you stood with our grandmother.”