Elected officials and community members are rallying to support Harjit Kaur after the 73-year-old grandmother was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
On Friday, staff from the Office of Congressman John Garamendi joined community members in a rally in El Sobrante in support of Kaur. After her asylum case was denied 13 years ago, she faithfully reportied to ICE every six months, according to supporters, who add that she has no criminal record. But on Sept. 8, Kaur was reportedly taken into custody at the San Francisco ICE office while returning a travel application requested by ICE.
A longtime Hercules resident, Kaur has lived in the U.S. since the early 1990s and worked for two decades at a small business in Berkeley, the congressmember’s office states. She regularly attended services at the Sikh Center of the San Francisco Bay Area in El Sobrante.
“Despite her efforts to obtain travel documents from the Indian Consulate—where she was turned away—ICE assured her she could lawfully remain under supervision,” advocates state on a website supporting her case. “Now, despite her long record of compliance, ICE has detained Harjit. At her age and with serious health issues like thyroid disease, migraines, knee pain, and anxiety, detention puts her life at risk. She has never refused to return to India but cannot without documents.”
In a statement, Congressman Garamendi’s office criticized the detention as an example of misplaced enforcement priorities.
“President Trump initially promised to go after the ‘worst of the worst’ in his immigration policy,” Garamendi said. “Yet this administration’s decision to detain a 73-year-old woman—a respected member of the community with no criminal record…Our office will do everything possible to support her case and her family.”
