Meenu Batra, 53, who is known for interpreting Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu in Texas immigration courts, was released on April 30 after being detained since mid-March.
His release came after a federal judge questioned the legality of his detention, saying he was detained without clear justification or proper procedural safeguards. The judge said he was given “no procedural protections” before his detention and ordered his release, barring future detention without proper notice.
Batra was arrested on March 17 when ICE agents stopped him at Valley International Airport in Texas while traveling to a work assignment in Milwaukee. During his detention he was held at the El Valle Detention Facility in Raymondville.
In a phone interview while in custody, she described the experience as tragic and said she “felt humiliated and treated like a criminal.”
His lawyer Deepak Ahluwalia said he was granted parole shortly before a federal judge issued an order temporarily blocking his release. He argued that the government had failed to explain why he was detained after living and working in the US for decades.
“Today’s order from the federal district court reaffirms what we have said from the beginning: The government cannot detain people in the first place and then justify it,” Ahluwalia said.
He said: “The court has now ordered his release and made it clear that due process is not optional. If the government wants to take away someone’s liberty, it has to provide notice and a fair opportunity of being heard.”
Batra has lived in the US for almost 35 years and is the mother of four adult children who are US citizens. He has worked as a certified court interpreter for over two decades and is believed to be the only licensed Punjabi, Hindi and Urdu interpreter in Texas.
US Congressman Joaquin Castro criticized her detention, saying, “Meenu Batra is the only Punjabi, Hindi and Urdu court interpreter in Texas. She has spent most of her life working and raising her children in Texas. ICE detained her despite having humanitarian protections. Trump’s mass deportation campaign is not going after the worst-case scenario. It is targeting the breaking up of contributing members of our communities and families.“
According to US immigration authorities, Batra was issued a final deportation order in 2000. Officials said she entered the country for the first time without legal permission and that work authorization is not equivalent to legal immigration status.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said he was detained during a targeted enforcement operation and stressed that it would continue to pursue removal cases involving people with deportation orders.
However, Batra’s legal team argued that she was living under a “stay of removal” protection, which prevents deportation to countries where a person could be harmed, and allows them to live and work in the US, but without a path to citizenship.
