When Harjit Kaur left Punjab for the United States in 1992, she carried hope and responsibility on her shoulders. A widow raising two young sons, she worked hard, paid her taxes, and complied with immigration requirements, even reporting to authorities every six months, as the law demanded.
Three decades later, the 73-year-old grandmother of five US citizens was deported to India. Shackled, denied medicine, and flown on a chartered plane, she says she still cannot understand why she was suddenly uprooted from the life she built.
From Compliance To Custody: What Went Wrong?
Kaur recalled the day of her arrest with trembling voice. On September 8, she went for her routine check-in with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“I waited for two hours. Then they asked me to sign papers. I refused without my lawyer. They told me they had my fingerprints and said I was under arrest, but they never explained why,” she recounted in an interview with NDTV, breaking down as she remembered the ordeal.
Her deportation is part of a wider crackdown under the Trump administration, which has already sent back more than 2,400 Indians.
Stripped Of Dignity In Detention
Kaur’s experience in detention paints a grim picture. Her lawyer, Deepak Ahluwalia, alleged she was denied basic facilities, forced to sleep on the floor, without proper food or access to a shower.
“I was not given my medicines. I barely slept, my feet swelled, and my body hurt,” she recalled. At one point, she said, she couldn’t even get up after lying down.
A strict vegetarian, Kaur says she was repeatedly served non-vegetarian meals. “I couldn’t eat it, it was turkey. Even their bread was too hard. I survived on chips and biscuits,” she said. On one occasion, when she refused meat, a relative alleged she was handed a plate of ice instead.
Her grandson’s reaction when he saw her in detention clothes still haunts her. “He told me, ‘I can’t see you like this,’” she whispered.
From East Bay To Exile
For more than 30 years, Kaur called California’s East Bay home. She lived with her sons and their families, faithfully attending every ICE check-in even after her asylum request was denied in 2012. Her daughter-in-law, Manji Kaur, said she had once even sought travel papers from the Indian consulate to regularise her status, but was refused.
Despite her decades of compliance, she was sent back abruptly, dressed in detainee-issued clothing, and left to start over in a country she hasn’t lived in for decades.
“I Don’t Know Where To Go”
Back in India, Kaur finds herself disoriented. “I don’t know if my house still exists. I will go to my village where my brother and sister live. But I have no place to stay,” she admitted, her voice heavy with uncertainty.
More than anything else, her heart aches for her family. “My request is simple,” she said softly. “Send me back to my grandchildren.”
