“Paramjit Singh is not getting the medical help he needs."
Paramjit Singh, a US green card holder battling a brain tumour and heart condition, has been held in detention by US immigration authorities for over two months.
Mr Singh, an Indian passport holder, has lived in the United States since 1994. He resides in Indiana with his wife and two children, who are all US citizens. The family runs a chain of gas stations.
But Mr Singh now faces the threat of deportation.
On July 30, he was detained by immigration officials at Chicago O’Hare International Airport after returning from a trip to India. He has remained in their custody since.
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) authorities have cited two decades-old cases as the reason for his detention. However, Mr Singh’s family and lawyer claim there are no active cases against him.
Immigration authorities have been accused of using outdated convictions to delay his release and allege that he is not receiving proper medical treatment.
His lawyer, Louis Angeles, told the BBC: “Paramjit Singh is not getting the medical help he needs. He is only getting medical check-ups.”
Mr Singh has travelled to India several times without immigration issues. His niece, Kiran Virk, said the family waited seven hours at Chicago airport for his arrival before learning he had been detained.
Ms Virk said immigration officials told them Mr Singh was being held over a 1999 case. He was kept at the airport for five days, despite family appeals, before being moved to a Clay County detention centre in Indiana.
Court records show the case involved Mr Singh using a public phone without paying. He served 10 days in prison and paid a $4,137.50 fine. The conviction has since prevented him from gaining US citizenship.
Ms Virk says the immigration authorities told the court Mr Singh still faced a one-and-a-half-year sentence, with only 10 days dismissed.
Officials have also cited a 2008 forgery offence in Illinois as grounds for his detention. But his family disputes this, claiming no such charges exist.
Ms Virk said the alleged forgery case was used to block Mr Singh’s release on a $10,000 bond granted by an immigration judge.
She said the family hired a private detective who found no criminal records for a person named Paramjit Singh in the state, suggesting that authorities may have mistaken him for someone else.
Mr Angeles said he plans to challenge the detention, calling it “unethical”.
He added:
“We are also taking legal steps to block him from being deported from the US.”
Mr Singh’s family say his second brain tumour surgery has been delayed due to his detention. Ms Virk said communication has been difficult because of limited phone access and his worsening health.
His case is due to be heard on October 14.
Mr Singh’s detention comes amid a broader crackdown on immigration in the US.
President Donald Trump’s administration has introduced stricter policies aimed at deporting illegal immigrants. Trump said he wanted to remove the “worst of the worst”, but critics argue that lawful residents have also been targeted.
In September, Harjit Kaur, a 73-year-old grandmother who had lived in the US for more than three decades, was deported to India. The move sparked anger among the Sikh community.
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