For more than two months, 48-year-old Paramjit Singh has been trapped in a web of immigration uncertainty. A long-time US resident battling a brain tumour and heart complications, Singh now spends his days behind bars in an Indiana detention centre — far from the comfort of his family and the medical care he urgently needs.
Singh, an Indian national who has lived legally in the United States since 1994, was detained at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport while returning from a short visit to India. To his family’s shock, immigration officers cited two decades-old cases as grounds for his detention. Yet, according to his relatives and lawyer, those charges had long been resolved, leaving no legal basis for his arrest.
The first case dated back to 1999 and involved a minor offence over the unpaid use of a public phone. Records show Singh served ten days in prison and paid a fine exceeding $4,000. The second — a supposed forgery charge from 2008 — remains murky, with the family insisting that no such conviction exists. A private investigator hired by them reportedly found no record matching Singh’s identity in the state’s criminal database.
Beyond the legal confusion lies a growing human tragedy. Singh’s family says his health has deteriorated in detention. His scheduled brain surgery has been postponed indefinitely, while his access to medication and specialist treatment remains limited. The family’s attempts to speak with him are often unsuccessful due to poor communication facilities at the centre.
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For his loved ones, the situation is both painful and bewildering. They believe the system has mistaken an innocent man for someone else — and that bureaucracy is costing him his health and dignity.
As his court hearing approaches, Singh’s fate now rests on whether the justice system will look beyond old shadows and recognise a man whose only crime may be surviving too long in the wrong file.