Panjabi Court Interpreter Arrested by ICE; Canada Deportation Risk

April

2026

Advocates in Texas, US are demanding the release of 53-year-old Meenu Batra who was detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents while she was traveling to Wisconsin in March. Batra is the only licensed Panjabi, Hindi, and Urdu interpreter in Texas and has lived in the US for over 35 years. Her language skills are requested nationwide, where she’s contracted to help people making their way through the immigration court system. She immigrated to the US in 1991 after her parents were killed in the 1984 Sikh genocide. Batra has spoken out against the inhumane conditions of her detention at the El Valle ICE jail in Raymondville, Texas where she was kept without food and water for over 24 hours. Meanwhile in Canada, nearly 9K Panjabi international students and asylum claimants have received notices following the enactment of the new immigration law called Strengthening Canada’s Immigration System and Borders Act or Bill C-12, putting them at risk of deportation. The Bill has tightened asylum rules, applying to those who entered Canada after 24 Jun 2020. Additionally, data reveals that the share of Indian students moving to Canada is seeing a significant drop. In September 2025, the incoming international student population was just 8.1%, which is a sharp drop from 51.6% in 2023. Furthermore, while Panjab has reported a few hundred drug overdose deaths in the last decade, Canada has recorded as many as 18K such deaths in the same period, signaling a larger crisis in the country. British Columbia declared a public health emergency on 14 Apr 2016 after 474 illicit drug deaths in 2015. In contrast, Panjab reported 78 drug-related deaths in 2021, 144 in 2022, and 89 in 2023. Concurrently, in California, US the immigrant community is being terrorized by gangs based in India. Over 250K Sikhs live in California, the largest population in the US. The community complains of death threats, extortion and intimidation by gangsters over phone calls. Apparently, a gang member calls a person and demands money. If they refuse, a criminal network threatens or carries out attacks against their families, relatives, or businesses—whether in the US or India (earlier coverage).