Wanted better life for her, says Gurupreet’ s mother

Washington, June 25 

The parents of a six-year-old migrant girl from India who died of heat stroke near the US-Mexico border said they sought asylum in the US because they were “desperate”. 

“We wanted a safer and better life for our daughter and we made the extremely difficult decision to seek asylum here in the US,” said the girl’s mother, identified as S Kaur, 27, and her father, Mr Singh, 33, in a joint statement released through the US Sikh Coalition that did not give their first names. 

“We trust that every parent, regardless of origin, colour or creed, will understand that no mother or father ever puts their child in harm’s way unless they are desperate.” 

The girl, identified as Gurupreet Kaur, died in a remote desert area west of Lukeville, Arizona, a US border town 50 miles southwest of Tucson, after her mother left her with other Indian migrants she was travelling with to go in search of water, a medical examiner and US Border Patrol said. 

The girl’s death earlier this month, the second recorded fatality of a migrant child this year in Arizona's southern deserts, highlighted the danger of summer heat as a surge of migrant families, mainly from Central America, cross the US-Mexico border to seek asylum. 

Gurupreet’s father has been in the United States since 2013 with a pending asylum application before the New York immigration court. Singh and Kaur, both Sikhs, had not seen each other since 2013, approximately six months after Gurupreet was born, according to the statement. 

According to Indian media reports, the parents are from Punjab.  It is not clear when the mother and daughter left their home in Punjab, or how exactly they made their way to the US-Mexico border.

Gurupreet’s mother was released from an Arizona ICE processing facility on June 18 and allowed to travel by bus to New York City, where she has a notice to appear before an immigration court.

Gurupreet’s body is being flown to New York City for her funeral.  

In their statement on Monday, the parents asked for privacy and said their family is heartbroken over Gurupreet’s death.

“We will carry the burden of the loss of our beloved Gurupreet for a lifetime. But we will also continue to hold onto the hope that America remains a compassionate nation grounded in the immigrant ideals that make diversity this nation’s greatest strength,” the report said. — Agencies