Harjit Kaur, the 73-year-old Sikh woman who was recently deported by the US, said that she didn't have any place to stay in India. She had been an undocumented immigrant and resident in California for over 30 years before she was arrested and deported by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement ICE.
Kaur said that she didn't understand why they deported her. Speaking to NDTV, she said, "I have been going there for so many years to mark my attendance. I am not sure why they deported me this time. I worked and paid taxes there and never made a mistake."
Kaur is one of the 2,400 Indians deported by the US after the ICE began cracking down on illegal immigrants.
Detention Centres
She narrated the events that led to her arrest by the ICE, saying, “I marked my attendance every six months. On September 8, when I went to the centre, they made me wait for two hours. Then they asked me to sign a paper. I refused to sign anything without my lawyer. The officials said they have my fingerprints. They informed that they have arrested me, but did not give any reason."
Kaur had then told the officer that her granddaughter was waiting outside for her. Officers dialled her granddaughter, who was upset by the news. “He didn’t allow me to make the call but instead took out his own phone, asked for her name and number, and let me speak to her briefly. I told her I had been arrested and to go home. She started crying immediately. She then called her parents, and they were all devastated," she said.
Inhuman Treatment
At the detention centre, Kaur was not given basic facilities and was denied a shower. Her US-based lawyer, Deepak Ahluwalia, said that she also had to sleep on the floor.
“I was made to sit the whole night after being arrested,” she said “Then, around 8 am the next morning, they transferred me to a facility in Yuba County. Look at my feet—they’re swollen. I didn’t receive any medication and could barely walk.” she said to the Indian Express.
Kaur was later moved to the Mesa Verde ICE Processing Center in Bakersfield, where she stayed for 10 to 12 days. She said that the clothes they provided in detention were unclean and uncomfortable. “Then they moved me to Georgia for two days. The nights I spent in San Francisco and Georgia—I can never forget them. They made me wear cream-colored jail clothes, and I had to wear them until I landed in India.”
Kaur was also handcuffed in San Francisco when she was being moved to Bakersfield.
“They made me wear the same jail clothes the entire time. When my granddaughter and other family members came to visit me at the detention center and saw me in those clothes, she said, ‘Grandmother, I can’t see you like this. Go back to India. I will video call you twice a day.’” She said that she couldn't bear to see her grandchild in distress.
Kaur also said that she was given non-vegetarian food, which she couldn't eat, and had to survive on chips and biscuits. Ahluwalia said that she was once given ice to eat.
She is currently at her sister’s house in Mohali, according to the Indian Express, where she arrived on Thursday night. She said, “Where will I stay? I have no place here. The house and lands were sold off by my husband’s relatives.”
Kaur said that her one wish is to be sent back to her family and be reunited with her grandchildren.