Overview
- Paramjit Singh, a Fort Wayne businessman and U.S. resident for more than 30 years, was detained by immigration agents at Chicago O’Hare on July 30 after returning from India.
- He was kept inside the airport for five days, taken to an emergency room as his health deteriorated, and his family says they learned of the hospital visit only from a bill.
- The detention is tied to a long-ago incident involving use of a pay phone without payment, which his lawyer describes as a minor offense for which Singh already served his sentence.
- His attorney says ICE moved him from an Indiana detention center to a Kentucky facility, and the legal team has filed an appeal and is seeking immediate federal court review of the continued detention.
- CBP says lawful permanent residents with prior convictions can face mandatory detention or added scrutiny at ports of entry, while Singh’s family says they have struggled to post the court-approved bond.