New Delhi: A 71-year-old grandmother from Punjab, Harjit Kaur, has returned to India after being deported from the United States under what she describes as a “humiliating and painful” experience. Kaur, who had lived in the US since 1991, claims she was handcuffed, her feet tied, and denied proper vegetarian meals during her detention before being flown back to New Delhi earlier this month.
Speaking at the Delhi airport, an emotional Kaur said she still cannot comprehend why her deportation case, pending for over a decade, was suddenly escalated.
“I went for my usual attendance on September 8 and they arrested me without telling me anything. My family had tickets to see me but I wasn’t allowed to meet them,” she recounted tearfully.
Long-Time Resident with Pending Case
Kaur moved to the US with her two sons after her husband’s death in the early 1990s and had been living in the San Francisco Bay Area for more than 20 years. She worked at a Berkeley saree shop until health problems forced her to quit earlier this year.
Though her deportation proceedings began in 2012 due to passport issues, she continued to check in with immigration authorities every six months, believing her case was under review. Despite holding a work permit and other documents, she said she was taken into custody without prior notice at her last appointment in San Francisco.
“Locked in a Cold Room”
According to Kaur, she was initially detained at the Mesa Verde Detention Center in Bakersfield, California, for more than a week. She alleges she was locked in a cold room and later transferred to Arizona before being flown out of the country.
“They handcuffed me, tied my feet, and gave me food I couldn’t eat as a vegetarian. My feet are swollen even now. I neither got medicine nor proper water—only ice,” she said, showing her injuries.
Her US-based lawyer Deepak Ahluwalia also posted details on social media, claiming Kaur was denied basic care during detention and that a formal complaint will be filed over her alleged mistreatment.
ICE-Chartered Flight with 132 Deportees
Kaur was deported on a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) charter flight carrying 132 other deportees, routed via Georgia and Armenia before arriving in New Delhi. She said she was not handcuffed on the flight itself but remained distraught over the entire process.
“After living there for so long, to be suddenly detained and deported this way—it is better to die than to face this,” she said, breaking down. “All my children and grandchildren are still there. I just want to go back.”
Citing Policy Changes
Kaur believes her case reflects the stricter enforcement policies in recent years targeting undocumented immigrants, including long-term residents. She also alleged that similar harsh measures were being used against other deportees, such as truck drivers and low-wage workers.
While US immigration officials have not yet commented on Kaur’s specific claims, her case has drawn attention to the treatment of elderly detainees and the conditions inside ICE detention centers.
For now, Kaur is staying with relatives in Punjab, hoping her family and lawyer in the US will be able to challenge her deportation or secure permission for her return.
