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Indian doctor alleges ICE harassment of aged mother
The victim is a U.S. citizen who has lived in the U.S. for 47 years.
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Jeffin T. Kaleekal - Mon, 26, Jan 2026
- 03:01 EST
- 16
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents stand guard during a protest outside the Whipple Federal Building, more than a week after a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent fatally shot Renee Nicole Good on January 7, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S., January 16, 2026. / REUTERS/Tim Evans
Nisha Patel, a California based doctor, has alleged that ICE harassed her mother, an American Citizen, in a Texas mall.
Dr. Patel, who recently joined the Advisory Board of the American College of Culinary Medicine, alleged that her mother was stopped and questioned by ICE officials while she was shopping at a Texas outlet mall owing to her Indian accent. She also alleged that the federal agents mistook her Indian accent for a Spanish accent and started speaking to her in Spanish.
ALSO READ: Federal immigration agents kill another U.S. citizen in Minneapolis, sparking protests
Patel added, "When she said she doesn’t speak Spanish, they began demanding where she was “from,” rapidly listing countries without even giving her a chance to respond." She alleged that the agents repeatedly asked her mother where was she 'from', allegedly focussing on her accent rather than her citizenship.
The victim, who has been living in the United States for the past 47 years, objected to the line of questioning and reportedly hit back saying that she had been in the U.S. for "longer than some of them have been alive."
Patel, in her X post, noted that her mother was allowed to go only after she showed an image of her U.S. passport on her phone.
Concluding her post, she remarked, "If you think this is just about “sending criminals back,” you are dead wrong."
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