‘Disturbing and unacceptable’: Netizens horrified after Indian-American doctor says masked ICE agents 'harassed' her mother

As outrage over the killings of Minneapolis residents Renee Good and Alex Pretti intensifies, an Indian-American doctor’s own experience with masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents has shocked netizens.Dr. Nisha Patel, a Texas-based physician known for sharing insights on social media, posted on X that her elderly mother, a US citizen of 47 years, was approached by masked ICE agents while shopping at an outlet mall. According to Patel, the agents assumed her mother spoke Spanish because of her accent, addressed her in that language and, when she said she didn’t, began demanding where she was “from,” rapidly rattling off possible countries without giving her time to answer.Patel said her mother was only allowed to leave after showing a photo of her US passport on her phone. In a post that went viral, with more than 2.3 million views, she wrote:"My mom was stopped and harassed by masked ICE agents while shopping at an outlet mall in Texas. 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.

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 US citizen. She has lived in this country for 47 years. If you think this is just about “sending criminals back,” you are dead wrong."

Netizens describe fear, disillusionment