Among the latest 'bad hombres' targeted by immigration: two Texas surgeons

Among the latest “bad hombres” targeted by immigration officials within the past few days: two Texas surgeons with an appointment book packed with patients waiting for medical care.

Two prominent Houston doctors facing removal by immigration officials to their native India have been granted a temporary, 90-day reprieve while they try to sort the paper-work that will allow them to continue living and working legally in the United States.

The married couple are both neurologists and faced removal Thursday after immigration officials refused at the last minute to extend their temporary permission to stay in the U.S., potentially jeopardizing the care of dozens of patients who have specialized surgeries scheduled with the two doctors in coming weeks.

It's the latest example of the government taking an unusually hard line on immigration and declining to consider cases on an individual basis.

"I have 50 patients today and 40 patients tomorrow," said Dr. Pankaj Satija, a neurologist who helped found the Pain and Headache Centers of Texas. "I'm just concerned they'll be left in a lurch. They could land up in the emergency room."

Despite the fact that Drs. Satija and Monika Ummat have been legally working and researching in the U.S. for more than a decade and have two young children, a paperwork error nearly uprooted their lives and the lives of the patients depending on them for their medical needs:

“The problem began last year when for some reason their travel document was issued for only one year, unlike the typical period of two years like their employment authorization.

Further confusing the issue was that Customs and Border Protection officials stamped their travel document saying that it expired in June this year, when in fact U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services noted that their document actually expired in June 2016.

The surgeons did not notice the discrepancy. They had an unusually busy year and were not planning international travel. Then last October, Satija’s brother called from Delhi and said that their father was extremely ill and had been admitted to intensive care. The family needed to go right away.”