Court interpreter detained by ICE says long-time legal residents are not safe

How does someone who says she was living and working legally in the United States end up spending more than six weeks in ICE custody?

That is the question hanging over Meenu Batra’s case, a detention that began at Valley International Airport in Harlingen, Texas, and ended only after a federal district judge ordered her immediate release. Batra was arrested by federal immigration officers on March 17, 2026, while traveling to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for a work trip. She was released on April 30, 2026.

Batra is a single mother of four adult U.S. citizen children and has lived in the United States for nearly 35 years. For more than 20 years, she worked as a certified court interpreter, handling Hindi, Punjabi and Urdu. Her case has become a stark example of how long-time legal residents can still be swept into detention, raising questions about how immigration enforcement handles status verification, paperwork and due process.

Her attorney, Deepak Ahluwalia, said the case involved due process concerns and said the experience had “broken” her. Batra herself said she is now afraid of being detained again. “No one is safe,” she said.

The detention also strained a family already tied to the United States by citizenship and work. While Batra was held, her children publicly urged authorities to release her. Their calls highlighted the emotional and financial pressure that can hit families quickly when a parent or caregiver is taken into custody, even when that person has spent decades living in the country and working in a professional role.

Batra’s account lands in a broader national debate over immigration enforcement and the limits of legal documentation as protection. For immigrants and legal residents, her experience has become a warning that paperwork and a long record of lawful presence may not prevent arrest, detention or a prolonged fight to get out.