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Indian National With 2000 Deportation Order Released From ICE Custody After Six Weeks
Meenu Batra, granted withholding of removal after fleeing violence in India as a teenager, was arrested by ICE on March 17 and released April 30 by a judge appointed by Barack Obama. Her son Jasper joined the Army months ago, opening a path to citizenship for parents of U.S. service members. Batra's pending habeas petition challenges the legality of her detention.
May 7, 1:13 PM·2m read1 source
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Meenu Batra was arrested by ICE on March 17 during a targeted enforcement operation and released from custody on April 30 by an activist judge appointed by Barack Obama, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Batra, who is from India, was issued a final order of removal from an immigration judge in 2000.
She first entered the country illegally at an unknown date and location, the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement to CBS News.
U.S. as a teenager after her parents, who were members of India's Sikh community, were killed during an outbreak of violence against followers of the religion. She applied for asylum and was granted withholding of removal status.
Withholding of removal status did not allow Batra to apply for citizenship. U.S. service members are eligible to apply for citizenship, however, and her son Jasper joined the Army a few months ago.
U.S. government, which aims to prove her detainment was illegal, is still pending. "No one is safe," Batra said in an exclusive interview with CBS News.
She said the majority of women she met in ICE detention are not violent criminals. "My daughter doesn't sleep at night time," Batra said. "She keeps watch on me. " "They forget that aliens are humans and humans have rights," she said.
CBS News reported that Batra's parents were killed in violence targeting India's Sikh community, prompting her flight to the United States as a teenager. She has since built a life in the country while navigating immigration restrictions that withholding of removal status imposed on her path to citizenship.
