NEW DELHI, India — A 73-year-old Indian grandmother who had lived and worked in the United States for over three decades has been deported to India, sparking outrage within the Sikh community and raising serious questions about her ‘unacceptable’ treatment in custody.
Harjit Kaur was arrested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials in San Francisco on September 8 during a routine check-in with immigration authorities. Ms. Kaur, a resident of Hercules in the San Francisco Bay Area, originally arrived in California in 1991 with her two young sons, seeking refuge from the political turmoil in Punjab.
She spent twenty years working as a seamstress and diligently paid her taxes while pursuing several unsuccessful appeals for asylum in the US courts.
Despite lacking the necessary documentation to return home after her appeals were exhausted, Ms. Kaur was allowed to remain and work legally during the lengthy claims process. However, following her arrest, the deportation process was swift and final.
Her lawyer, Deepak Ahluwalia, released a statement alleging Ms. Kaur—who has no criminal record—was subjected to what he described as “unacceptable” conditions during her detention.
In an Instagram video, Mr. Ahluwalia claimed the elderly woman, who has had double knee replacements, was forced to sleep on the floor for 60-70 hours and was denied edible food, alleging that guards blamed her for her inability to eat the provided sandwich.
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Ms. Kaur was moved to a holding facility in Georgia on September 19 and deported to Delhi on September 22, departing without a final visit to her home or a proper farewell to her family and friends.
Speaking to the Times of India newspaper shortly after landing in Delhi on Thursday, Ms. Kaur offered a devastating assessment of her experience: “After living for so long (in the US), you are suddenly detained and deported this way; it is better to die than to face this,” she said.
The incident comes amid a wider, high-profile crackdown on immigration by the Donald Trump administration. While President Trump has pledged to deport the “worst of the worst,” critics argue that immigrants without criminal records who follow due process are increasingly being targeted.
Ms. Kaur’s arrest and swift removal fueled protests by supporters in California, highlighting the shock felt across the Sikh community as the US immigration court system continues to manage over 3.7 million pending asylum cases.
