An everyday visit to a Texas outlet mall on a sunny afternoon turned into a nightmare for an Indian American doctor’s mother, a U.S. citizen for 47 years, because of her accent.
She followed every rule, yet masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents stopped her, Dr Nisha Patel alleged in a post on X.
“My mom was stopped and harassed by masked ICE agents while shopping at an outlet mall in Texas,” she wrote. “Because she has an accent, they assumed she spoke Spanish and started talking to her in Spanish.”
“When she said she doesn’t speak Spanish, they began demanding where she was ‘from,’ rapidly listing countries without even giving her a chance to respond,” Patel wrote.
“My mom told them she’s been in this country longer than some of them have been alive. She was only allowed to leave after showing a photo of her U.S. passport on her phone.”
“She is a U.S. citizen. She has lived in this country for 47 years,” Patel wrote. “If you think this is just about ‘sending criminals back,’ you are dead wrong.”
READ: JD Vance backs ICE following arrest of 5-year-old in Minnesota, blames locals for unrest (January 23, 2026)
Patel’s post about the harassment of her mother amid President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown came as a stark reminder that it’s affecting not just illegal immigrants, but ordinary citizens, families, and communities across the country.
In the year since Trump’s return to office, ICE’s reach has extended into the heart of daily life – from shopping malls to city streets. The issue has been a focus of protests in cities across the country following the fatal shooting of two Minneapolis residents Alex Pretti and Renee Good, by federal immigration agents.
The killings have sparked demonstrations in Minneapolis, New York City, San Francisco, Boston and other cities, with protesters asking federal agents to leave Democratic run states immediately.
Indian nationals are among the top detainees in ICE custody, with 2,647 Indians detained for immigration violations in FY 2024, including overstaying visas or entering illegally, ranking them fourth among nationalities held by ICE. As of late 2025, over 3,258 more Indians were detained.