The visiting room of the Mesa Verde ICE Processing Centre in Bakersfield, California, is small, loud, and crowded. When Harjit Kaur's family arrived to see her, they could barely hear her - and the first words they caught shattered them. She said, 'I would rather die than be in this facility. May God just take me now,' recalled her distraught daughter-in-law, Manjit Kaur.
Harjit Kaur, 73, who unsuccessfully applied for asylum in the US, has lived in California for more than three decades and was arrested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials on September 8, sparking shock and sympathy from the Sikh community across the state and beyond. Kaur had filed several asylum appeals over the years which were rejected, with the last denial in 2012.
Since that time, she was asked to report to immigration authorities every six months and was arrested in San Francisco during one such check-in. This incident is part of a wider crackdown by the Trump administration on immigration and alleged undocumented immigrants.
The issue of immigration is sensitive in the US, where over 3.7 million asylum cases are pending in immigration courts. Many in the community see Kaur’s arrest as targeting innocent individuals, as more than 70% of those arrested by ICE have no criminal convictions.
California State Senator Jesse Arreguin expressed outrage over her arrest, stating: Now, they are literally going after peaceful grandmothers. This shameful act is harming our communities.
US Congressman John Garamendi has submitted a request for Kaur's release, highlighting that she is a long-standing member of the community with no criminal record. Meanwhile, ICE insists that Kaur has exhausted all legal pathways for remaining in the US, thus justifying her detention.
Kaur, who came to the US in 1991, has worked as a seamstress but her situation has deteriorated as she faces the very real possibility of deportation to a country where she has no family left. Her supporters, stirred by her age and hardships, have begun organizing protests to demand her release. Manjit Kaur emphasized that her mother-in-law is ready to leave if only travel documents are provided, highlighting the tragic juxtaposition of a grandmother ready to return to India under difficult circumstances.}
Harjit Kaur, 73, who unsuccessfully applied for asylum in the US, has lived in California for more than three decades and was arrested by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials on September 8, sparking shock and sympathy from the Sikh community across the state and beyond. Kaur had filed several asylum appeals over the years which were rejected, with the last denial in 2012.
Since that time, she was asked to report to immigration authorities every six months and was arrested in San Francisco during one such check-in. This incident is part of a wider crackdown by the Trump administration on immigration and alleged undocumented immigrants.
The issue of immigration is sensitive in the US, where over 3.7 million asylum cases are pending in immigration courts. Many in the community see Kaur’s arrest as targeting innocent individuals, as more than 70% of those arrested by ICE have no criminal convictions.
California State Senator Jesse Arreguin expressed outrage over her arrest, stating: Now, they are literally going after peaceful grandmothers. This shameful act is harming our communities.
US Congressman John Garamendi has submitted a request for Kaur's release, highlighting that she is a long-standing member of the community with no criminal record. Meanwhile, ICE insists that Kaur has exhausted all legal pathways for remaining in the US, thus justifying her detention.
Kaur, who came to the US in 1991, has worked as a seamstress but her situation has deteriorated as she faces the very real possibility of deportation to a country where she has no family left. Her supporters, stirred by her age and hardships, have begun organizing protests to demand her release. Manjit Kaur emphasized that her mother-in-law is ready to leave if only travel documents are provided, highlighting the tragic juxtaposition of a grandmother ready to return to India under difficult circumstances.}
