{"id":123530,"date":"2026-05-07T15:57:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T18:57:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ubirataonline.com.br\/texas-mother-of-4-says-no-one-is-safe-after-spending-more-than-6-weeks-in-ice-custody\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T15:57:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T18:57:15","slug":"texas-mother-of-4-says-no-one-is-safe-after-spending-more-than-6-weeks-in-ice-custody","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ubirataonline.com.br\/en\/texas-mother-of-4-says-no-one-is-safe-after-spending-more-than-6-weeks-in-ice-custody\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas mother of 4 says “no one is safe” after spending more than 6 weeks in ICE custody"},"content":{"rendered":"

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After spending more than six weeks in ICE custody, a Texas single mother of four said she is “absolutely” fearful of it happening again.<\/p>\n

“No one is safe,” Meenu Batra<\/a><\/span> said in an exclusive interview with CBS News. But she added,”I believe in the system. I believe I have the documents.”<\/p>\n

Born in India, Batra said she has been living and working legally in the U.S. for decades.<\/p>\n

The court translator spent 45 days in ICE custody after she was arrested on March 17 at a Texas airport while on her way to Milwaukee for work.<\/p>\n

“They told me you’re here illegally,” Batra previously told CBS News while in detention at El Valle Detention Facility in Raymondville, Texas, which is located near the U.S.-Mexico border. “And I said, ‘No, sir, I have my documents with me, in my bag right now.'”<\/p>\n

Now that she’s been released, she described the uncertainty while she was detained, saying, “you become small. You start to believe that perhaps you are not equal, that you are not human.”<\/p>\n

Batra said the majority of women she met in ICE detention are not violent criminals, who the Trump administration says it is going after. She added leaving them behind makes her feel guilty.<\/p>\n

Last week a federal judge ordered the 53-year-old’s release<\/a><\/span>, ruling that she had been detained for “no discernible reason.”<\/p>\n

Batra’s children are relieved she’s now home, but she said they’re still grappling with what happened.<\/p>\n

“My daughter doesn’t sleep at night time,” Batra said. “She keeps watch on me. Anytime a car passes by, she becomes fearful that somebody is here to \u2026 get you.”<\/p>\n

Batra fled to the U.S. as a teenager after her parents, who were members of India’s Sikh community, were killed during an outbreak of violence against followers of the religion. She applied for asylum and was ultimately granted “withholding of removal” status, but that status did not allow her to apply for citizenship. However, her son Jasper joined the Army a few months ago and that offers her a path to citizenship because parents of U.S. service members are eligible to apply.<\/p>\n

Batra’s habeas petition agains the U.S. government, which aims to prove her detainment was illegal, is still still pending.<\/p>\n

In a statement to CBS News, the Department of Homeland Security said, “On March 17, ICE arrested Meenu Batra, an illegal alien from India, during a targeted enforcement operation. Batra was issued a final order of removal from an immigration judge in 2000. She first entered the country illegally at an unknown date and location. An activist judge appointed by Barack Obama RELEASED her from ICE custody on April 30. We will continue to fight for the removal of illegal aliens who have no right to be in our country.”<\/p>\n

Batra called the statement from DHS “very disrespectful to the judges and judiciary.”<\/p>\n

“They forget that aliens are humans and humans have rights,” she said.<\/p>\n

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