Indian-Origin Woman Detained in US During Green Card Process

Detention of Babblejit Kaur Raises Concerns

A 60-year-old woman of Indian descent, who has resided in the United States since 1994, was apprehended earlier this month by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during an appointment for her biometric scan related to her green card application, as reported by her family.

Babblejit “Bubbly” Kaur, a former co-owner of Natraj Cuisine of India and Nepal in Long Beach, California, was taken into custody on December 1 at a facility of the US Citizenship and Immigration Services.

According to reports, she has no criminal history.

This incident occurred amidst stricter immigration policies implemented by the Trump administration, which has intensified efforts against undocumented immigrants since January 2025.

Babblejit Kaur had an approved green card petition from her daughter and son-in-law, both US citizens, as noted by her daughter, Joti Kaur.

A green card, or Permanent Resident Card, permits individuals to live and work in the US indefinitely.

The December 1 appointment was anticipated to be the final step in her transition to permanent residency, Joti Kaur mentioned.

She recounted that her mother was at the front desk of the ICE office when several federal agents entered the premises.

Joti Kaur stated that her mother was called into a room where agents informed her of her arrest. After a brief call to her lawyer, Babblejit Kaur was detained.

“She was really scared,” Joti Kaur expressed, adding that her mother was placed in a van with other detainees, shackled at her hands and feet.

For several hours, the family was unaware of Babblejit Kaur's whereabouts until they learned she had been moved to Adelanto, a former federal prison now serving as an ICE detention center in California.

As of Monday, Babblejit Kaur remained in Adelanto.

“It’s been a nightmare,” Joti Kaur lamented. “We are doing everything we can to get her out. She does not belong there. It is so inhumane.”

No official explanation for her detention has been provided by ICE or the Department of Homeland Security.

The Kaur family, originally from India, settled in California in the mid-1990s.

Babblejit and her husband operated their restaurant for over twenty years before it closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The couple has three children; Joti Kaur has legal status under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, while her older siblings are US citizens.

Democratic Congressman Robert Garcia, representing Long Beach, has been in touch with the family and described the situation as “horrific.”

Meanwhile, the family is preparing additional legal documents that may allow Babblejit Kaur to be released on bond as her case progresses.

In a similar case, a 73-year-old woman named Bibi Harjit Kaur was detained in September during a routine immigration check-in in California.

After being transferred from a California detention center to a facility nearly 4,000 km away in Georgia without notifying her lawyer or family, she was deported to India two weeks later.

“It is despicable that any human should be treated this way,” stated the Sikh Coalition, an organization advocating for Sikh Americans, following Bibi Harjit Kaur’s deportation.

Bibi Harjit Kaur has since returned to Punjab.

The US government has utilized military aircraft in various instances to repatriate undocumented migrants.

On December 4, the Indian government reported that the US had deported 18,822 Indians since 2009, including 3,258 individuals since January 2025. The Ministry of External Affairs informed Parliament that over 1,360 Indians were deported in 2024 and 617 in 2023.

Of those deported in 2025 until November 28, approximately 2,000 were sent back on commercial flights, while others were transported on charter flights operated by ICE or Customs and Border Protection.

The deportations are contingent upon “unambiguous verification” of their Indian citizenship, according to the ministry.