A Sikh man with a brain tumor was arrested by US Immigration

For more than two months, Paramjit Singh, 48, a US green card holder who suffers from a brain tumor and heart disease, has been held in a detention center by US immigration authorities.

Mr. Singh, who holds an Indian passport, has lived in the United States on a green card since 1994. He lives in Indiana with his family, which owns a chain of gas stations. His wife and two children are American citizens.

But Mr Singh now faces deportation.

On July 30, he was arrested by immigration authorities at Chicago O’Hare International Airport while returning from a trip to India, and he has been detained since then.

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) cited cases dating back two decades as reasons to detain him, but Singh’s family and attorney say there are no active cases against him.

They accuse immigration authorities of using old cases to delay his release and claim he lacks proper medical care despite having a brain tumor and a heart condition.

Luis Angeles, his lawyer, told the BBC: “Paramjit Singh is not getting the medical help he needs. He is only undergoing medical examinations.”

The BBC has asked ICE to respond to these allegations.

His niece Kiran Virk told the BBC that Singh had visited India regularly without immigration issues. This time, his family waited seven hours at the Chicago airport for his arrival.

Ms. Virk says immigration officials told them that Mr. Singh was arrested in connection with a case dating back to 1999. He was held at the airport for five days despite pleas from his family, before being transferred to a detention center in Clay County, Indiana.

The case relates to Mr Singh using a public phone without paying. He served 10 days in jail and paid a $4,137.50 fine, court records show. The conviction stripped him of his US citizenship.

Ms Virk claims immigration authorities said at a court hearing that Singh still faced a year and a half in prison, with just 10 days to be refused.

Immigration authorities also say Mr. Singh was convicted of forgery in Illinois in 2008, but his family maintains there are no such charges against him.

Ms. Virk said authorities cited the forgery case to prevent Mr. Singh’s release on $10,000 bail granted by an immigration judge.

She said a private investigator hired by the family found no criminal records for a person named Paramjit Singh in the state, suggesting that authorities may have mistaken him for someone else.

The BBC has asked Immigration and Customs Enforcement to respond to the family’s claim that there is no fraud case against Mr Singh in Illinois.

Singh’s lawyer told the BBC that he intends to appeal the arrest, describing it as “unethical”.

“We are also taking legal steps to prevent his extradition from the United States,” Mr Angelis told the BBC.

Meanwhile, Mr Singh’s family are increasingly concerned about his health, as a second surgery for a brain tumor has been postponed due to detention, Ms Virk says.

She says the family is struggling to contact Mr Singh in the detention centre, as limited telephones and his poor health make contact difficult.

Mr Singh’s case is scheduled to be heard on 14 October.

His detention comes amid a widespread crackdown launched by the administration of US President Donald Trump on immigration, especially illegal immigrants in the United States.

Trump has said he wants to deport “the worst of the worst,” but his critics say immigrants without criminal records and due process have also been targeted.

In September, Harjit Kaur, a 73-year-old grandmother who has spent more than three decades living in the United States. He was deported to IndiaWhich sparked anger among the Sikh community.

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