New Delhi [India], December 4 (ANI): External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Thursday informed the Rajya Sabha that 73-year-old Indian citizen Harjit Kaur was maltreated while in U.S. detention before being deported, and that the Indian government has taken up the issue “strongly” with the American embassy following her return to the country.
Speaking during Question Hour in the Upper House, the minister said immigration officials routinely interview all deportees upon arrival. In this case, Jaishankar noted that the immigration officer clarified that Kaur had not been handcuffed, contrary to some public claims.
However, he confirmed that she was subjected to maltreatment while in U.S. detention before being placed on the flight to India.
“Whenever any flight with deportees comes, the deportees are invariably interviewed by officials of the Government of India. In this particular case, our immigration officer said that she was not cuffed,” Jaishankar said.
“While Harjit Kaur was not handcuffed, she was maltreated in detention before she was put on the flight. We raised the matter of her maltreatment strongly with the American Embassy and asked the American authorities to look into it,” he added.
Harjit Kaur, a 73-year-old Sikh woman who had spent three decades in the United States, was deported by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in September. Kaur, who had repeatedly applied for asylum without success, was arrested by ICE officials on September 8.
She moved to California in 1991 with her two young sons and lived and worked there while pursuing several unsuccessful asylum claims. She was transferred to a holding facility in Georgia on September 19 and deported to India on September 22, without being able to return to her home or bid farewell to family and friends.
Kaur spent 60 to 70 hours in detention without a bed, forced to sleep on the floor despite having undergone double knee replacement surgery. She was given ice to take her medication and denied food she could eat, with guards blaming her for being unable to consume the sandwich provided to her.
She has filed multiple appeals—up to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals—and has lost each time. (ANI)
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