An Indian nationalist, who has been in the United States for nearly two decades, was detained in California after losing his latest appeal over a deportation order.

46-year-old Gurmukh Singh, who is married to an American woman and has two daughters, was taken into custody on Monday by federal agents after failing to get a stay in his case.

Singh, who is a taxi driver from Punjab, India, sneaked into the United States illegally through the border of Mexico in 1998.

He later applied for asylum, citing religious persecution, but his family said that he failed to properly pursue the case and was ordered to depart.

Singh got married in 2010. His deportation case resurfaced when he applied for a residency visa in 2012 given his new status.

He was then jailed for 5 months, but after rights activists posed his bail, he was released and his case has been going through the appeals process.

Singh had been checking in with the office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement on a regular basis pending the outcome of his appeals against the deportation order.

The Resilience Orange County’s, Alexis Perez Nava a group that is helping with the case said that Singh was detained on Monday after the 9th Circuit of Appeals denied a request to quash the deportation order.

"We are completely devastated. This has completely broken us apart, emotionally and physically," Singh's 18-year-old daughter Manpreet said.

She said her father has no criminal record, had always paid his taxes and just sought to "live a normal life and feed his family."

"Watching him emotionally break down is probably the last thing any daughter wants to see," Manpreet said, her voice breaking.

"He just looked at us this morning and said 'I don't know what is going to happen to us anymore. Please forgive me and take care,'" she added.

A spokesperson for ICE, Lori Haley said that Singh was detained after his case had "undergone exhaustive review at all levels of our nation's legal system."

The priority of federal authorities was to focus on criminal aliens who pose a threat to public, those like Singh, who violate immigration laws were not exempt from the action.

"All those in violation of our nation's immigration laws may be subject to arrest, detention and, if found removable by final order, removed from the United States," she said in an email.

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