Indian living in US for 20 years detained
Los Angeles, May 9: An Indian man who fled alleged “persecution” in his country and has been in the US for nearly two decades was detained in California after losing his latest appeal over a deportation order.
Gurmukh Singh, who is married to an American citizen and has two USborn daughters, was taken into custody on Monday by federal agents after failing to get a stay in his case, his attorney and family said.
The 46-year-old Sikh taxi driver from India’s Punjab state sneaked into the United States without a visa through the border with Mexico in 1998. He later applied for asylum, citing religious persecution. But his family and lawyer say he failed to properly pursue the case and was ordered deported.
Mr Singh married a US citizen in 2010 but his deportation case resurfaced when he applied for a residency visa in 2012.
He was subsequently jailed for about five months but after rights activists posted his bail, he was released and his case has since been going through the appeals process.
Alexis Perez Nava, with Resilience Orange County, a group helping with his case, said Mr Singh was detained after the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals denied a request to quash the deportation order.
“We are completely devastated. This has completely broken us apart, emotionally and physically,” Mr Singh’s 18-year-old daughter Manpreet said.
She said her father has no criminal record, had always paid his taxes and just sought to “live a normal life and feed his family.” “Watching him emotionally break down is probably the last thing any daughter wants to see.
“He just looked at us this morning and said ‘I don’t know what is going to happen to us any more. Please forgive me and take care,’” she added.
SINGH came to the US in 1998 after sneaking across the USMexico border.
HE applied for asylum, claiming he was fleeing persecution as a Sikh, but was not approved.