73-year-old Harjit Kaur deported from US faces 'harsh treatment' in detention; was given ice when asked for water
PTC Web Desk: Harjit Kaur, a 73-year-old Sikh grandmother who had lived in the United States for over three decades, was reportedly subjected to harsh treatment during her deportation, including denial of food, water, and medicine. According to her US-based lawyer, Deepak Ahluwalia, she was given only a plate of ice when she asked for water to take her medications and was told by a guard, “It’s your fault,” when she explained she could not chew due to dentures.
Ahluwalia described Kaur’s ordeal as “unacceptable,” revealing that she spent 60-70 hours in detention at the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities without a bed. She was forced to sleep on the floor despite having undergone double knee replacement surgery. “She was made to sleep on a concrete floor with just a blanket. She could barely get up due to her knees,” he added.
During her detention, her requests for food to take her medicines were largely ignored. She was reportedly given a cheese sandwich, but when she asked again for something edible or even water, she was handed ice. She was also denied a shower for the entire duration of her detention. Before her flight on September 22, Harjit Kaur and other detainees were provided only wet wipes to clean themselves before boarding the ICE-chartered flight from Georgia to Armenia, and then to New Delhi. Fortunately, she was not handcuffed, which had been standard procedure for deportees in the past.
Kaur, a resident of Pangota village in Punjab’s Tarn Taran district, moved to the United States around 33 years ago with her two sons after her husband passed away. She lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for more than 20 years, working at a sari store in Berkeley until health issues forced her to quit earlier this year.
She was taken into custody on September 8 during a routine immigration check-in in San Francisco and moved to the Mesa Verde detention centre in Bakersfield. On September 10, at around 2 am, she was reportedly transported in handcuffs to Los Angeles before being flown to Georgia, Armenia, and eventually New Delhi on an ICE-chartered plane with 132 other deportees.
She has described the experience as heartbreaking. “After living there for so long, to be suddenly detained and deported this way… it is better to die than face this,” she said. She also complained of severe swelling in her feet and the inability to walk due to lack of medicine during detention.
Kaur’s deportation has sparked outrage among Sikh groups and immigrant rights activists in California. Supporters staged protests with slogans such as “Hands off our grandma” and “Bring grandma home.”
- With inputs from agencies
