A wave of anger and sympathy has erupted across California after the detention of Harjit Kaur, a 73-year-old Indian grandmother, by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Kaur, a long-time resident of the San Francisco Bay Area, was taken into custody on 8 September during a routine check-in with immigration officials in San Francisco. She was later moved to the Mesa Verde ICE Processing Centre in Bakersfield.At a recent protest outside the El Sobrante Sikh Gurdwara in Contra Costa County, more than 200 people gathered, holding signs that read “Bring Grandma Home.” Supporters described her as “everyone’s grandmother,” with passing cars honking in solidarity.Local officials, community leaders and lawmakers also joined in, urging federal authorities to release her immediately, according to news website Richmondside.
A life built over three decades in the US:
Harjit Kaur came to the United States in 1991 as a widowed mother, hoping to shield her two young sons from the political unrest in Punjab. Over the next three decades, she built a modest but stable life in California. She worked for two decades as a seamstress at a sari store in Berkeley, regularly attended services at the El Sobrante Gurdwara and paid taxes every year.Although her asylum applications were denied, the last rejection coming in 2012, Kaur continued to live legally in the US with work permits that were renewed annually. For the past 13 years, she has reported faithfully to ICE officials every six months, never missing an appointment. One of her sons has since become a US citizen and all five of her grandchildren are citizens as well. Her lawyer, Deepak Ahluwalia, noted that she has never resisted deportation, according to BBC.Her daughter-in-law Manjit Kaur explained that repeated efforts to secure emergency travel documents from the Indian consulate have failed. “Provide us the travel documents and she is ready to go,” she said. “She even packed her suitcases back in 2012,” her daughter-in-law added.
Family’s fears over her health:
Kaur’s family says her detention is putting her health at risk. She suffers from chronic conditions including thyroid disease, knee pain, migraines and anxiety, yet her relatives allege that she has not received proper medical attention or access to her medication inside the facility.When her family met her at Mesa Verde, they recalled her tearful words: “I would rather die than be in this facility. May God just take me now.” Manjit Kaur said the family is devastated and fears for her life. “She is everything to us. We already lost one mom. We cannot afford to lose another.”Her granddaughter Sukhdeep Kaur described her as “independent, selfless and hard-working,” calling her a mother figure for the entire community. “She is not only my grandma, she is everyone’s grandma,” she said.
Calls for release and wider debate:
The detention has drawn sharp criticism from lawmakers and community leaders.California State Senator Jesse Arreguin in a post on X said, “Over 70% of people arrested by ICE have no criminal conviction. Now, they are literally going after peaceful grandmothers. This shameful act is harming our communities.”US Congressman John Garamendi, who represents the district where Kaur lives, has also formally requested her release.Hercules City Council member Dilli Bhattarai said he is exploring how his city can pressure the federal government.“She is not doing any harm to the community. She is an abiding constituent just like us. She has all the rights to be here as a community member and we should all support her immediate release,” he told Richmondside.He added that Hercules is already a sanctuary city, so the only option left is contacting federal authorities. Kaur’s family has urged community members to do the same.ICE maintains that Kaur has “exhausted decades of due process” and that her removal was ordered by an immigration judge in 2005, as reported by BBC. “Now that she has exhausted all legal remedies, ICE is enforcing US law and the orders by the judge,” the agency said in a statement.Her supporters, however, say the case highlights misplaced priorities in US immigration enforcement under President Donald Trump’s crackdown on undocumented immigrants. “This administration’s decision to detain a 73-year-old woman — a respected member of the community with no criminal record who has faithfully reported to ICE every six months for more than 13 years — is one more example of the misplaced priorities of Trump’s immigration enforcement,” Garamendi’s spokesperson said.At the two-hour-long protest in Contra Costa County, Manjit Kaur urged attendees to return every Friday until her mother-in-law is released. “We will keep gathering here, not only for her, but for everyone wrongfully detained by ICE. Other communities have come by and stood with us today — we don’t want to forget them.”For now, Harjit Kaur remains in detention, caught between US enforcement orders and the absence of valid travel documents to India.
