US: Indian-origin court interpreter detained, faces deportation

A 53-year-old woman of Indian origin has been held pending deportation by the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement, CBS News reported on Wednesday.

Meenu Batra, a single mother of four adult US citizens, was arrested at the Harlingen airport in Texas on March 17 when she was on her way to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on a work trip.

Batra has been a court interpreter of Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu in the US for more than 20 years.

She was born in India but fled to the US 35 years ago and applied for asylum after her parents were killed in communal violence, CBS News reported.

In 2000, she was granted an immigration status of “withholding of removal”, which does not amount to asylum.

The persons who have a “withholding of removal” status cannot apply for permanent residency in the US and are not protected from being deported to a third country.

Her attorney told CBS News that her immigration status allows her to work legally as long as she does not leave the US or commit a crime.

Batra told the US-based TV channel that her understanding of the “withholding of removal” status is that she was in the US legally.

The US Department of Homeland Security told CBS News that Batra was an “illegal alien” and that...

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