Indian-Origin Grandmother Detained By ICE Despite Holding Green Card For 27 Years: What’s The Case
An Indian-origin woman, a grandmother of two, was detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) during a routine check-in visit, despite having lived in the country for 27 years and holding a valid Green Card since 2013. The woman has been identified as Venkata Narsamamba Vasamsetty.
An immigration judge had previously dismissed proceedings seeking her removal from the United States, according to a Newsweek report. However, ICE has since alleged that she abandoned her lawful permanent residency after spending a substantial period of time in India in 2022. Her attorney claimed that ICE now alleges she “isn’t a green card holder.”
Vasamsetty was detained during a scheduled check-in at ICE’s Charlotte, North Carolina, office on August 11. She is currently being held at an ICE detention centre in Georgia, according to data from the agency’s Online Detainee Locator System. Her detention came despite an immigration judge having terminated the government’s earlier deportation case against her in May.
Why Did She Travel To India?
She travelled to India to care for her critically ill parents and was later unable to return as planned after contracting COVID-19 and developing other health complications, according to her family and lawyer. According to immigration attorney Zoe Wilson, Vasamsetty returned to the US through Raleigh-Durham International Airport in February 2023, after being outside the country for about seven months.
Vasamsetty has no criminal history and has maintained lawful immigration status. She works as a public school teacher with special-needs students and has two US citizen children and two US citizen grandchildren. Wilson also said Vasamsetty is “severely diabetic” and “requires glucose monitoring and medical care.”
“She has been a Lawful Permanent Resident, a green card holder, since 2013. She has NO criminal history. She is a public school teacher who primarily works with special-needs children. She is a mother to two U.S. citizen children. She has two US citizen grandchildren. Her home, her family, her career, and her life are here and have been here for over 27 years,” Wilson wrote in a social media post.
Legal Battle Underway
After her detention, on August 13, Vasamsetty’s legal team filed an emergency habeas corpus petition challenging her detention. A federal judge then ordered immigration authorities to explain, within three days, the legal basis for holding her.
According to NRI Pulse, ICE’s latest filing does not acknowledge that Vasamsetty’s detention was unlawful, nor does it order her release. However, it indicates that if the federal court applies its recent precedent, she would be entitled to have an immigration judge consider whether she can be released on bond. If the federal court rules in favour of the government, Vasamsetty is expected to receive a bond hearing within seven days.
Can A US Green Card Holder Not Travel Abroad Freely?
According to USCIS guidelines, lawful permanent residents may travel abroad freely, but absences exceeding six months trigger a rebuttable presumption of abandoned residency, while stays over 12 months automatically require a reentry permit to prevent the loss of green card status.
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Defending Vasamsetty’s extended stay in India, Wilson said, “She wasn’t packing up her life in the United States. She wasn’t moving back to India. She wasn’t leaving with the intention of giving up her green card. At the time she left, she was literally in the process of buying a home in North Carolina to be her primary residence. Then, while she was in India, she completed that purchase,” Newsweek reported.