Meenu Batra talks about her experience being detained by ICE after living in the United States for 35 years.
In her first interview since being released from ICE custody after more than six weeks, Meenu Batra, a Texas woman of Indian descent, told CBS News exclusively that she fears she could be arrested again. Batra has lived in the United States since fleeing India in 1991 after his parents were killed in Punjab. In 2000, Batra obtained court protection from deportation to her country of origin due to fear of persecution and was allowed to work legally in the United States.Batra, a single mother of four children, including an Army soldier, has been working as a court interpreter as she knows Punjabi, Urdu and Hindi besides English. On March 17, she was detained by ICE agents at an airport in Texas as she traveled to Wisconsin for work. Donald Trump’s administration said she was in the United States illegally and could be deported to a third country, not India.She was released earlier this month amid court challenges to the legality of her detention. Speaking about her detention, Batra told CBS News that the hardest part was the dehumanization and uncertainty. In response to Shanelle Kaul’s question about whether she was afraid of being arrested again, Batra said she was very concerned that this could happen again. “I hate to admit it,” she said. “I went grocery shopping the other day. It was weird. It’s my own town, my own people, but I’ve always had a watch over my shoulder,” Batra said of her life after release. Batra’s lawyer Deepak Ahluwalia earlier said they were working to secure military parole for Batra, whose son is serving in the U.S. Army. If she gets a green card, they will apply for her green card at the end of the year.
