Meenu Batra, the only licensed Punjabi, Hindi and Urdu court interpreter in Texas, has been detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for over a month, fearing deportation to a country she has never visited. Batra, 53, was arrested at Harlingen International Airport on 17 March while travelling for work, and has since been held at the El Valle detention facility in Raymondville.
Batra, who fled anti-Sikh pogroms in India in 1991 and has lived in the US for over 35 years, was granted a 'withholding of removal' in 2000, meaning she cannot be sent back to India due to a well-founded fear of persecution. Despite this, ICE officers detained her, claiming she was in the country illegally. Batra says she was denied food, water and medication for 24 hours, and forced to pose for photographs with her hands behind her back, which she described as 'humiliating'.
Her lawyer, Deepak Ahluwalia, argues that the government has not explained why she is being held or where she might be sent. He suspects she could be deported to a third country, as the US has agreements with several nations to accept deportees. The Department of Homeland Security claimed Batra had a 'final order of removal' from 2000, but Ahluwalia insists a withholding of removal is not a final order.
Batra, who has four children and has worked as an interpreter for hundreds of immigration court cases, said she is trying to help other detainees access legal resources. 'I haven't been able to cry much because nothing is making sense,' she told the Guardian from detention.
