A US military aircraft carrying 104 Indian nationals deported as part of President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration has landed in Amritsar. The C-17 plane took off from an airport in Texas yesterday, carrying the largest number of Indian deportees so far in this guard-changing episode related to illegal immigration.
Sources say all those on board have been “verified,” which indicates active coordination between the U.S. and New Delhi in identifying them. This flight is believed to be one of several flights that will deport Indian immigrants staying in the country either without visas or after their visas expired.
Since his election, Donald Trump has tried to strengthen operations against illegal immigration, sending flights with such deportees to Guatemala, Peru, and Honduras.
The deportations come just as there are reports that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to the U.S. next week, the first since the beginning of Trump’s second term. Trump says Modi told him that India will “do what’s right” when it comes to sending illegal Indian immigrants back home. In a Bloomberg News report, the two countries are said to have identified close to 18,000 Indian migrants who illegally entered the U.S.
External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar has signaled New Delhi’s intent to facilitate the “legitimate return” of Indian nationals living in various countries abroad, including the U.S. Trump spoke to the unprecedented nature of this operation, saying, “For the first time in history, we are locating and loading illegal aliens into military aircraft and flying them back to the places from which they came.”
The Ministry of External Affairs said that India was opposed to illegal immigration because it was associated with organized crime. Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal added that the government would facilitate the return of Indian nationals found to be in violation of immigration laws, subject to proper documentation being provided for verification.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi said the U.S. was “vigorously enforcing its border, tightening immigration laws, and removing illegal migrants,” warning that “illegal migration is not worth the risk.”
