An Indian family of four was arrested by ICE and taken to a family prison. (Left: Guri; right: Manpreet and her mother)
The Indian family of four – parents and two kids — completes almost 90 days at Dilley detention center in Texas, with their future looking bleak and their health deteriorating. They were arrested in February during a routine check-in appointment and were put in the controversial center which reopened after the Donald Trump administration resumed family detentions last year. YouTuber Ms Rachel, who had been advocating for shutting the ICE detention centre, visited Dilley and met the Indian family.”I never thought i’d be advocating to get families out of prison. It was an honor to meet with this hardworking, kind family. Please free them. Guri is not getting proper care for bleeding when he goes to the bathroom which is dangerous medical neglect,” Ms Rachel wrote.Guri is the 12-year-old boy of the family who has been experiencing blood in his stools. This started before his detention but he did not get any treatment after the entire family was picked up and held in family prison. His sister, 11-year-old Manpreet has been vomiting frequently as the tap water is hurting her stomach. “Both children were so kind but you could tell they are depressed,” Ms Rachel wrote. “Their mom is deteriorating due to not having the right medications and treatment for her diabetes and arthritis. Manpreet and Guri are so caring and so worried about their mom, taking care of her as it’s difficult for her to move around due to the pain. Both children are unable to sleep properly at night because the lghts are on 24/7,” Rachel wrote.”Their dad was working so hard at 7-11 and Uber to make ends meet. He broke down into tears several times. It was an honor to meet with their hardworkng, kind family. It was devastating to see them all deteriorating from family detention which is like prison,” Ms Rachel added.Jagdish, the father, came to the US in 2022 seeking asylum. According to reports, he cited persistent threats and violence in his community in Punjab, India as he had converted from Sikhism to Catholicism. The family settled in central Los Angeles, near Jagdish’s brother’s family.Gurwinder and the kids practice Sikh-Hinduism and are supposed to eat vegetarian on Tuesdays and Thursdays but there are no veg options at the detention center. So on those days, they don’t eat anything.“I worry I came here to save myself, and I ended up ruining three lives,” Jagdish earlier said to a Guardian interview.
