Los Angeles: An Indian man who fled 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 US-born daughters, was taken into custody on Monday by federal agents after failing to get a stay in his case, his attorney and family said.
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.
Singh married a US citizen in 2010 but his deportation case resurfaced when he applied for a residency visa in 2012 given his new status.
His family said in the past several years, he had been checking in with the office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on a regular basis pending the outcome of his appeals against the deportation order.
Alexis Perez Nava, with Resilience Orange County, a group helping with his case, said Singh was detained yesterday 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," Singh's 18-year-old daughter Manpreet told AFP.
"Watching him emotionally break down is probably the last thing any daughter wants to see," Manpreet said, her voice breaking.
"He just looked at us this morning and said 'I don't know what is going to happen to us anymore. Please forgive me and take care,'" she added.
She added that while the priority for federal authorities was to focus on criminal aliens who pose a threat to public safety, those like Singh who violate immigration laws were not exempt from action.
"All those in violation of our nation's immigration laws may be subject to arrest, detention and, if found removable by final order, removed from the United States," she said in an email.
Singh's detention comes amid a clampdown by the administration of President Donald Trump against undocumented immigrants.
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