A tiny village in India where Kamala Harris has ancestral roots is praying for her victory

THULASENDRAPURAM, India (AP) — The temple reverberated with rhythmic Sanskrit and Tamil hymns, as a Hindu priest held a flame before the god. As this tiny South Indian village gathered to pray for Kamala Harris, a gaggle of reporters jostled for space and camera angles.

There's little to distinguish the village of Thulasendrapuram from any other rural community in Tamil Nadu, except its connection to a woman who could become America's first leader with South Asian roots.

As millions of Americans vote, Harris has people rooting for her from thousands of miles away in a village surrounded by rice paddies and coconut trees, where her mother's family has ancestral ties. They talk about her at the local tea shop. Banners and billboards bearing her face are seen throughout the community.

“Our deity is a very powerful God. If we pray well to him, he will make her victorious,” said M. Natarajan, the temple priest that led the prayers in front of the image of Hindu deity Ayyanar, a form of Lord Shiva.

Harris’ maternal grandfather was born in the village, about 350 kilometers (215 miles) from the southern coastal city of Chennai, more than 100 years ago. As an adult, he moved to Chennai, where he worked as a high-ranking government official until his retirement.

Harris has never visited Thulasendrapuram and she has no living relatives in the village, but people here still venerate the family that made it big in the U.S.

“Our village ancestors' granddaughter is running as a U.S. presidential candidate. Her victory will be happy news for every one of us,” Natarajan said.

The village's sudden fame has helped bring money into the village. Recently, construction began on a water storage tank with funds donated by a local bank. Village residents say it will carry a plaque with Harris’ name.

Harris’ late mother, Shyamala Gopalan, was born in India. After moving to the U.S. to study, she married a Jamaican man, and they named their daughter Kamala, a Sanskrit word for “lotus flower.”

Other than trips during her childhood, Harris hasn’t visited India much — particularly not since becoming vice president — but she has often spoken emotionally about her ties to her late mother’s country of birth. On Tuesday, she released a campaign video highlighting her mother, who arrived in the U.S. at age 19 and became a cancer researcher.

Titled “Mother,” the video ends with a narrator saying: “This daughter of Shyamala, this daughter of the American story, is ready to lead us forward.”

Harris has often talked about how she was guided by the values of her Indian-born grandfather and mother. She has also spoken of her love of south Indian food, especially a type of steamed rice cake called idli.

Harris’ name is engraved in a list of donors — her aunt Sarala Gopalan gave money to the temple in her name — along with that of her grandfather. Outside, a large banner wishes “the daughter of the land” success in the election.

On Tuesday, the village temple also received rare international visitors: two American tourists and one from the U.K., all wearing black t-shirts that said “Kamala Freakin Harris.”

Manikandan Ganesan, a villager who runs a small store near the temple, said Harris’ bid for the presidency has made the village famous. He hopes Harris will eventually visit them.

“Even if she mentioned that she would visit our village, it would make us very happy,” Ganesan said. “Her victory itself will be a big source of happiness for us.”

Village residents also prayed for Harris’ victory in 2020, and set off firecrackers when she became the U.S. Vice President.

For women of the village, the candidate's journey is a source of inspiration.

Local politician Arulmozhi Sudhakar said Harris embodies a significant step toward female empowerment in places like Thulasendrapuram, where a majority of women continue to face discrimination and gender inequality.

“From the time when women were not even allowed to step out of their house, to now a woman from our village contesting in the U.S. presidential election — this brings happiness for us,” Sudhakar said. “The coming generations will see her as a role model to succeed in life.”

Local villagers and international tourists receive blessings from a priest after participating in special prayers for the victory of Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, at Sri Dharmasastha Hindu temple in Thulasendrapuram, the ancestral village of Harris, in Tamil Nadu state, India, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

A villager prays in front of the idols of Hindu goddesses after special prayers for the victory of Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, at Sri Dharmasastha temple in Thulasendrapuram, the ancestral village of Harris, in Tamil Nadu state, India, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

Villagers participate in the special prayers for the victory of Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, at Sri Dharmasastha Hindu temple in Thulasendrapuram, the ancestral village of Harris, in Tamil Nadu state, India, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

Villagers plant paddy in a field in Thulasendrapuram, the ancestral village of Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, in Tamil Nadu state, India, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

Manikandan Ganesan, right, a local shopkeeper, packs vegetables for a customer at his grocery store outside Sri Dharmasastha Hindu temple in Thulasendrapuram, the ancestral village of Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, in Tamil Nadu state, India, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

A villager washes clothes at a pond adjacent to Sri Dharmasastha Hindu temple in Thulasendrapuram, the ancestral village of Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, in Tamil Nadu state, India, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

M. Natarajan, head priest of Sri Dharmasastha Hindu temple points out the name of Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris on a plaque, displaying names of donors written in Tamil language who donated for the renovation of temple, in Thulasendrapuram, the ancestral village of Harris, in Tamil Nadu state, India, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

An aerial view of Thulasendrapuram, the ancestral village of Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, in Tamil Nadu state, India, Monday, Nov. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

Local politician Arulmozhi Sudhakar prepares a Kolam, a traditional art work using colored powder, that reads "Greeting America, our wishes for Kamala Harris' victory" for Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, in Thulasendrapuram, the ancestral village of Harris, in Tamil Nadu state, India, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

Villagers tie a banner featuring Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris outside a temple in Thulasendrapuram, the ancestral village of Harris, in Tamil Nadu state, India, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

From left, Fiana Jones of United Kingdom, Devony Evans and Sajron Silalenka of United States wearing tees and cheer for Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris outside a temple in Thulasendrapuram, the ancestral village of Harris, in Tamil Nadu state, India, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Chief Justice John Roberts agreed Monday to pause a midnight deadline for the Trump administration to return a Maryland man mistakenly deported to a notorious prison in El Salvador.

The temporary order comes hours after a Justice Department emergency appeal to the Supreme Court arguing U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis overstepped her authority when she ordered Kilmar Abrego Garcia returned to the United States.

The administration has conceded that Abrego Garcia should not have been sent to El Salvador because an immigration judge found he likely would face persecution by local gangs.

But he is no longer in U.S. custody and the government has no way to get him back, the administration argued.

Xinis gave the administration until just before midnight to “facilitate and effectuate” Abrego Garcia’s return.

“The district court’s injunction—which requires Abrego Garcia’s release from the custody of a foreign sovereign and return to the United States by midnight on Monday—is patently unlawful,” Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote in court papers, casting the order as one in “a deluge of unlawful injunctions” judges have issued to slow President Donald Trump's agenda.

The Justice Department appeal was directed to Roberts because he handles appeals from Maryland.

The Trump administration is separately asking the Supreme Court to allow Trump to resume deportations of Venezuelan migrants accused of being gang members to the same Salvadoran prison under an 18th century wartime law.

The federal appeals court in Richmond, Virginia, denied the administration's request for a stay. “There is no question that the government screwed up here,” Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson wrote in a brief opinion accompanying the unanimous denial.

The White House has described Abrego Garcia’s deportation as an “administrative error” but has also cast him an MS-13 gang member. Attorneys for Abrego Garcia said there is no evidence he was in MS-13.

“The Executive branch may not seize individuals from the streets, deposit them in foreign prisons in violation of court orders, and then invoke the separation of powers to insulate its unlawful actions from judicial scrutiny,” Abrego Garcia’s lawyers wrote in a response filed moments after Roberts issued his temporary pause.

Xinis wrote that the decision to arrest him and send him to El Salvador appears to be “wholly lawless,” explaining that little to no evidence supports a “vague, uncorroborated” allegation that Abrego Garcia was once an MS-13 member.

Abrego Garcia, a 29-year-old Salvadoran national who has never been charged or convicted of any crime, was detained by immigration agents and deported last month.

He had a permit from DHS to legally work in the U.S. and was a sheet metal apprentice pursuing a journeyman license, his attorney said. His wife is a U.S. citizen.

In 2019, an immigration judge barred the U.S. from deporting Abrego Garcia to El Salvador.

A Justice Department lawyer conceded in a court hearing that Abrego Garcia should not have been deported. Attorney General Pam Bondi later removed the lawyer, Erez Reuveni, from the case and placed him on leave.

Prisoners look out from their cell at the Terrorist Confinement Center in Tecoluca, El Salvador, Friday, April 4, 2025, during a tour by the Costa Rica Justice and Peace minister. (AP Photo/Salvador Melendez)

FILE - Jennifer Vasquez Sura, the wife of Kilmar Abrego Garcia of Maryland, who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador, speaks during a news conference at CASA's Multicultural Center in Hyattsville, Md., April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, file)

President Donald Trump walks on the South Lawn as he arrives at the White House on Marine One, Sunday, April 6, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Jennifer Vasquez Sura, the wife of Kilmar Abrego Garcia of Maryland, who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador, speaks during a news conference at CASA's Multicultural Center in Hyattsville, Md., Friday, April 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)