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Harvey Sachdev was 12 when he came to the United States with his family from Punjab. He was a valedictorian both at the Northeastern High School, Elizabeth City, North Carolina, and at the University of Pennsylvania where he earned a bachelor's degree in psychology. But worsening schizophrenia made it difficult for Harvey to hold a job, according to his sister Neena. In 1997, he was arrested for, among other things, indecent exposure, a result of his mental condition, according to his sister.
"He was arrested many years ago. He paid his dues," says Neena, who says the family is worried about what could happen to him in India, a country he left about 40 years ago, in the absence of suitable medical treatment.
"Mr Sachdev is an aggravated felon convicted on November 3, 1997 in the Circuit Court of Norfolk, Virginia for the offence of taking indecent liberties with a child and sentenced to 12 months in prison," said Nicole Navas of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement's Miami office in an e-mail. She said Sachdev had also been convicted for not registering as a violent sex offender.
According to Dimple Rana of Deported Diaspora, an organisation working with people deported from the US, the problem was that indecent exposure amounted to moral turpitude, a felony, and, therefore, a serious crime. She suggested that there were different standards to judge the behaviour of a mentally ill person. A Deported Diaspora statement says deporting the mentally ill is cruel and unusual punishment. Further, it says, Sachdev has all his family, including an adult daughter, in this country.
Sachdev might not have been in trouble had he not missed appointments over his green card application. His case is still open on appeal before the Fourth Circuit Court, but after his deportation was postponed in December and again earlier this month, the ICE officials went ahead with the deportation. Neena says he missed the hearings because he was in a mental hospital undergoing treatment.
The ICE says June 4, 2008, an immigration judge ordered him removed after finding him ineligible for immigration relief. He appealed his case to the Board of Immigration Appeals, which dismissed it November 29 last year.
Deported Diaspora plans to send over a letter with Sachdev and arrange for someone to meet him when he lands in New Delhi to help with housing, etc.
The family has found an expert to work with Sachdev, but is not sure how much good it will do. Neena says despite leaving many messages, she has not been able to get any response from the Indian consulate in Houston, which processed Sachdev's documents.