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Advocates Demand Release of Texas Interpreter Meenu Batra from ICE Jail

HeadlineApr 17, 2026

In Texas, advocates are demanding the release of a longtime court interpreter and the only licensed Punjabi, Hindi and Urdu interpreter in the state, who was detained by ICE last month. Meenu Batra has lived in the U.S. for over 35 years. She fled India following pogroms against Sikhs in Punjab and arrived in the U.S. in 1991. Her attorneys fear Batra could be deported to a country she has no ties to, under Trump’s so-called third country agreements. Batra has spoken out against the inhumane conditions of her detention at the El Valle ICE jail in Raymondville, Texas.

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