American Indian denied access to return to India to see dying father
News from India West
Pankaj Satija and Monika Ummat, married neurologists living in Houston, Texas were ordered deported last week with 24 hours’ notice. They have since been given an 11th hour 90 day repreieve from deportation- making them unable to return to India for any reasons.
On April 1, Satija’s father died in Delhi and and Satija was denied permission to return to India to witness his father’s funeral or conduct last rites, India West reports.
While Satija and Ummat remain grateful for the extra 90 days to get paperwork together, the couple’s attorney believes they were ordered deported because of a new directive by the Trump administation.
“These are not tough decisions. These are not criminals, not a threat to society,” he said. “It’s just the rigidity of the system; and instead of trying to work with people, the new administration is just trying to force them out, no matter what,” attorney Gordon Quan said.
