Community Rallies as Harjit Kaur Faces Deportation Despite No Criminal Record
BAKERSFIELD, California — A 73-year-old Sikh grandmother who has lived in California for over 30 years was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials, sparking outrage from her community and raising questions about immigration enforcement priorities
“I Would Rather Die Than Be Here”
Harjit Kaur’s family was devastated when they visited her at the Mesa Verde ICE Processing Centre in Bakersfield. Through the noise and chaos of the crowded visiting room, they heard her desperate plea: “I would rather die than be in this facility. May God just take me now.”
The arrest on September 8th occurred during what should have been a routine check-in at ICE offices in San Francisco — something Kaur had been doing faithfully every six months for over 13 years.
A Widow’s Journey to America
Kaur’s story began in 1991 when she arrived in the United States as a young widow with two minor sons. Following her husband’s death, she sought to escape the political turbulence engulfing India’s Punjab state and provide safety for her children.
Over three decades, she built a life in America. Working modest jobs, including two decades as a seamstress at a sari store in the San Francisco Bay Area, she raised her sons and became a taxpaying member of her community. One son is now a US citizen, and all five of her grandchildren are American citizens.
Legal Battles and Bureaucratic Deadlock
Kaur’s asylum applications were repeatedly denied, with her final appeal rejected in 2012. Since then, she has been caught in a bureaucratic maze — ordered for deportation but unable to obtain the necessary travel documents from India.
“She has exhausted decades of due process,” ICE stated, noting that an immigration judge ordered her removal in 2005. The agency emphasized that Kaur “has filed multiple appeals all the way up to the Ninth Circuit Court of appeals and LOST each time.”
However, neither US immigration officials nor Kaur herself have been able to secure the required travel permit from India over the past 13 years. The Indian Consulate General in San Francisco, K Srikar Reddy, told reporters they have no record of Kaur applying for travel documents.
Political Response and Community Support
The arrest has drawn sharp criticism from California politicians. State Senator Jesse Arreguin condemned the action, stating: “Over 70% of people arrested by ICE have no criminal conviction. Now, they are literally going after peaceful grandmothers.”
US Congressman John Garamendi has formally requested Kaur’s release, calling the detention “one more example of the misplaced priorities of Trump’s immigration enforcement.”
Allegations of Poor Treatment
Kaur’s lawyer, Deepak Ahluwalia, has raised serious concerns about her treatment in detention. He alleges that despite having undergone double knee replacement surgery, she was:
Denied her regular medication
Forced to sit on floors for hours without a chair or bed
Explicitly refused water
Not provided vegetarian meals for six days
Physically mistreated by guards
ICE has not responded to these specific allegations but previously stated it provides “full health care” and “24-hour emergency care” to all detainees.
Community Rallies Behind Beloved Member
Kulvinder Singh Pannu, president of The Sikh Centre’s gurdwara committee, describes “Bibi Harjit” (a respectful term for an elderly Punjabi woman) as a beloved community member who “always helped people in our community with whatever she had financially.”
Hundreds of community members have protested her arrest, with demonstrations planned in multiple US cities.
A Life Built, A Future Uncertain
After 30 years in America, Kaur has deep roots but nowhere to return. Her parents and siblings in India have died, and she owns no property there.
“She has no-one, no home, no land to return to,” Ahluwalia said.
The family maintains they never questioned the deportation order. “Provide us the travel documents and she is ready to go,” said daughter-in-law Manjit Kaur. “She had even packed her suitcases back in 2012.”
The Broader Immigration Debate
Kaur’s case highlights the complexities of America’s immigration system, which currently has over 3.7 million asylum cases pending. ICE, now the highest-funded federal law enforcement agency, operates under the Trump administration’s expanded immigration enforcement mandate.
While officials say they’re targeting the “worst of the worst,” critics argue that law-abiding immigrants like Kaur demonstrate misplaced priorities in enforcement.
As legal efforts continue to secure her release, Kaur’s supporters are calling for alternatives to detention, such as ankle monitoring, while the bureaucratic process of obtaining travel documents moves forward.
What’s Next
The Indian Consulate says it is “facilitating all necessary consular assistance” to resolve the travel document issue. Meanwhile, Kaur’s family and legal team are working to secure her release from detention while the documentation process continues.
For now, a 73-year-old grandmother who spent three decades building an American life sits in a detention center, caught between two countries and a bureaucratic system that has failed to resolve her case for over a decade.
