ICE Detains Interpreter with Withholding of Removal

Meenu Batra, a 53-year-old immigration court interpreter who has lived in the United States for 35 years, was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents on March 17 at Valley International Airport in Harlingen, Texas, while traveling to Wisconsin for a professional assignment.

Batra, originally from India, works as a freelance interpreter in immigration proceedings, providing translations in Hindi, Punjabi, and Urdu. She holds a master-level court interpreter license in Texas and has served in this role for more than two decades, often assisting South Asian immigrants navigating the legal system. The arrest occurred after she passed through airport security, when plainclothes agents approached her without visible badges or uniforms. According to a sworn account in her legal filings, one agent asked if she knew she was in the country without legal status and subject to a deportation order. Batra responded that she possessed valid work authorization, which she has renewed regularly and which remains effective for several more years.

The detention stems from a final removal order issued by an immigration judge in 2000, despite Batra's grant of withholding of removal...