Indian‑origin doctor says her mother was ‘harassed’ by ICE agents in Texas: ‘Because she has an accent…’

In a chilling episode, an Indian-American physician recounted her aged mother’s harrowing run-in with ICE officers while shopping in a Texas mall. The agents suspiciously interrogated her about her heritage, mistakenly assuming she was a Spanish speaker, only to backtrack when she confirmed her citizenship.

An Indian‑American doctor said her elderly mother was stopped and questioned by ICE agents at a Texas mall because of her accent.Nisha Patel, who practises medicine and shares professional insights online, posted on X that her mother was approached by masked US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents while shopping at an outlet mall. According to Patel, the agents assumed her mother spoke Spanish because of her accent and began addressing her in that language. When she said she did not speak Spanish, they started asking where she was “from,” and rapidly listed countries without giving her time to answer.Patel said her mother responded that she had lived in the United States for 47 years and is a US citizen. The agents only allowed her to leave after she showed a photo of her US passport on her phone.