Indian-origin Texas resident Meenu Batra says she is living in fear even after being released from ICE detention, warning that “no one is safe” under the current immigration crackdown in the United States.
Batra, who has lived in the US since 1991, spent more than six weeks in detention after being stopped by immigration officials at a Texas airport while travelling for work. Regardless of carrying legal documents that allowed her to remain and work in the country, she said she was told she was in the US illegally. In her first interview with CBS after being released, the 53-year-old said the experience has left her shaken and uncertain about what comes next. “I absolutely fear it happening again,” Batra told CBS, adding, “No one is safe.”
Detained despite legal protection
Batra fled India decades ago after her parents, members of the Sikh community in Punjab, were killed during a period of violence. She later received a legal protection order in 2000 that prevented her deportation to India due to fears of persecution.
The order also allowed her to legally work in the US. Over the years, Batra built a life in Texas as a court interpreter, speaking Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu and English. She is also a single mother raising four children, one of whom recently joined the US Army. But on March 17, while travelling to Milwaukee for work, she was detained by ICE agents at an airport in Texas.
“They told me you’re here illegally,” Batra recalled in the CBS interview. “And I said, ‘No, sir, I have my documents with me, in my bag right now.’” The Trump administration argued that she could still be deported to a third country even if she could not be sent back to India.
‘You start to believe you are not human’
After spending 45 days in custody at a detention facility near the US-Mexico border, Batra said the emotional impact of detention was overwhelming. “You become small,” she told in the interview. “You start to believe that perhaps you are not equal, that you are not human.”
Batra also said many women she met in detention were not violent criminals, regardless of repeated claims from the administration that enforcement operations are focused on dangerous offenders. A federal judge later ordered her release, reportedly saying she had been detained for “no discernible reason.”
Even after returning home, Batra said the fear has not disappeared. According to her, her children remain deeply affected by the ordeal. “My daughter doesn’t sleep at night time,” she said. “Anytime a car passes by, she becomes fearful that somebody is here to get you.”
The Department of Homeland Security defended the arrest, calling Batra “an illegal alien from India” and pointing to a removal order issued against her in 2000. The department also criticised the judge who ordered her release and said it would continue efforts to remove immigrants it believes do not have the right to remain in the country.
Batra strongly objected to the statement, calling it disrespectful to the judiciary. “They forget that aliens are humans and humans have rights,” she said. Her legal battle is not over yet. Batra’s petition challenging her detention is still pending in court, even as she tries to rebuild a sense of safety after weeks behind bars.