NRI PULSE STAFF REPORT
Dallas, TX, January 26, 2025: An Indian-American physician has alleged that her mother, a U.S. citizen who has lived in the United States for nearly five decades, was stopped and questioned by masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents while shopping at an outlet mall in Texas, an encounter she described as troubling and emblematic of racial profiling.
In a post on X, Dr. Nisha Patel said her mother was approached by individuals she identified as ICE agents who assumed she spoke Spanish because of her accent and began questioning her in Spanish. When she said she did not speak the language, Patel wrote, the agents demanded to know where she was “from,” rapidly listing countries without giving her a chance to respond.
According to Patel, her mother told the agents she had lived in the United States longer than some of them had been alive. She was allowed to leave only after showing a photograph of her U.S. passport on her phone. Patel said her mother has been a U.S. citizen for 47 years.
“If you think this is just about ‘sending criminals back,’ you are dead wrong,” Patel wrote, framing the incident as part of a broader concern over how immigration enforcement affects naturalized citizens and long-time residents.
The post drew a wide range of responses online, reflecting sharply differing views on immigration enforcement and civil liberties.
One commenter, who identified as having lived in the United States longer than Patel’s mother, expressed sympathy for her frustration but defended law enforcement actions. “Is it not our duty to help law-enforcement officers?” the commenter wrote, adding that they would willingly show identification or even take officers home to verify their passport if asked. The commenter questioned why accents should trigger resentment and suggested that showing “gratitude to America” should be part of the response.
Another commenter argued that ICE was intended to focus on violent offenders marked for deportation, not individuals shopping in public spaces. The commenter criticized what they described as a broad “reasonable suspicion” standard, calling it an excuse for racial profiling that disproportionately affects minorities who have lived in the country legally for decades, including U.S. citizens and permanent residents. The comment also questioned whether similar scrutiny would be applied to white individuals with European accents.
A third response framed the incident as a civil rights issue, warning against what the commenter described as the erosion of due process. “This is what happens when assumptions replace rights and fear replaces due process,” the commenter wrote. “A U.S. citizen should never have to prove her humanity or belonging in a parking lot.”
The incident, as described by Patel, has not been independently verified, and ICE has not publicly responded to the allegations. The account comes amid heightened national debate over immigration enforcement practices, racial profiling, and the balance between public safety and constitutional protections.
Cover photo designed on Canva for representational purposes only.
