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Indian court interpreter Meenu Batra released from ICE custody
Batra’s legal team is pursuing an expedited green card for Batra through her son who serves in the U.S. Army.
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Jeffin T. Kaleekal - Fri, 01, May 2026
- 03:51 EDT
- 23
Meenu Batra / Indus Lingo
Indian court interpreter, Meenu Batra, was released from ICE custody on April 30, over a month after she was detained from a South Texas airport.
Batra, a single mother of four, was arrested from the Harlingen airport as she was flying to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for work. She has worked as a court interpreter for over 20 years, the only one licensed in Texas for Hindi, Punjabi, or Urdu.
CBS news reported the release after a federal district judge ordered Batra's immediate release.
ALSO READ: Interpreter Meenu Batra held by ICE, files illegal detention claim
He lawyer told CBS that the judge stated that Batra's due process rights were violated because she was arrested without prior notice, interview or a formal process.
Her release hinged on the manner of her arrest. Batra had previously claimed that the people who arrested her did not have visible badges nor were they wearing uniforms, in a sworn deposition that she filed along with her demand to be released based on the claim that the detention was illegal.
Additionally, the lawyer said that they are pursuing an expedited green card for Batra through her son who serves in the U.S. Army.
Her lawyer also noted that Batra cannot be arrested again unless a formal notice is given and an interview is conducted in the presence of an attorney.
Batra, during her arrest, informed the agents that the deportation order was offset by the ‘withholding of removal’ order by a New Jersey immigration judge decades ago.
Withholding of removal is a form of relief from deportation granted by an immigration judge, preventing return to a country where a person's life or freedom would be threatened.
Batra’s ‘withholding of removal’ status ensures that she cannot be deported back to India but provides for deportation to a “third country” that will accept such a person.
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