Harjit Kaur, 73, is back in India after being deported from the US, traumatised and helpless.
From being detained in a cold room overnight to being cuffed, shackled and offered beef despite being a vegetarian, Kaur is in tears at her sister’s house in Mohali when she recalls the nightmare.
Living in the US since 1992, where she went as a single mother of two young sons, Kaur had applied for asylum. Her case was denied in 2012, after which she “faithfully reported” to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in San Francisco every six months for more than 13 years, her daughter-in-law Manji said after her deportation.
Despite possessing a valid work permit, an ID and a licence, Kaur was detained by immigration authorities in California on September 8 after she went for a routine check-in.
“I used to go there (ICE office) to mark my presence every six months. On September 8, when I went there to mark my presence, they arrested me without specifying anything,” recalls Kaur, who hails from Pangota village in Tarn Taran district.
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Her family, she says, pleaded with the authorities to be allowed to take her to India, even showing a flight ticket that had been booked in her name.
“But they did not budge," Kaur tears up, adding that she was not even given the chance to say goodbye to her close family members.
Kaur’s detention by ICE triggered massive protests and concerns among her family and community members in California, with demonstrators demanding her release with placards reading “Hands off our grandma” and “Bring grandma home”.
About the treatment meted out to her by ICE, Kaur only says: “What can I say? No one should go through the ordeal I had to go through.”
After her detention in San Francisco, she says she was taken to a room where they photographer her and detained her overnight.
“It was cold, and I couldn’t even lie down,” says Kaur, who had undergone a double knee replacement surgery.
Cuffed and shackled when taken from San Francisco to Bakersfield, the septuagenarian says she was not even allowed to take her medicines.
“All my pleas fell on deaf ears. I couldn’t even eat the food they gave because I am a vegetarian. They served beef, which I don’t eat,” she laments.
Kaur was deported along with 132 others, including 15 Colombian nationals. On the plane, however she was spared the horror of being cuffed.
“There were two good officers on board who did not cuff me, although the other deportees were cuffed and shackled.”
Her future is now uncertain, with none of her children or grandchildren in India. Kaur hopes desperately that she is allowed to return to the US.
“My entire family is settled in the US, including my children, granddaughters and grandsons. When I hear their voice, I cannot speak a word. I looked after them,” she says.
Holding US President Donald Trump solely responsible for the deportation of a large number of Indians in recent months, Kaur says she lived in an America where immigrants were not mistreated.
“I have been in the US since 1992, but I never saw any such action by the authorities. Nobody was asked to go back,” Kaur says.
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