Trump's immigration crackdown: A US C-17 plane carrying deported Indians landed at Shri Guru Ramdas Ji International Airport Amritsar on February 5 as part of President Donald Trump's immigration agenda, news agency PTI reported.
A witness confirmed to Reuters that the plane landed in Amritsar, deporting an unspecified number of people. The flight reportedly had 205 people on board, while some others put the number at 104. The report added that the deported people were mainly from Punjab and Gujarat.
Giving more information on the deported illegal migrants, sources told PTI that 30 of the deportees are from Punjab, 33 each are from Haryana and Gujarat, three each from Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, and two from Chandigarh, adding that an official confirmation on the number of deportees is awaited.
After Donald Trump assumed office as the US president last month, the country's law enforcement agencies have launched a crackdown against illegal immigrants.
According to the Reuters report, the flight to India would mark the farthest destination for deported migrants under the Trump administration, with military planes previously taking migrants to countries such as Guatemala, Peru, and Honduras. India has said that it will take back such illegal immigrants after verifying their details.
According to a Business Standard report, as many as 18,000 illegal Indian immigrants have been identified for deportation by the Trump administration.
On January 24, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had stated that it would facilitate the return of Indian nationals "overstaying" or residing without proper documentation in the United States or “anywhere in the world. While addressing a regular press briefing on January 24, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “We are against illegal immigration, especially because it is linked to several forms of organised crime.”
"For Indians not just in the United States, but anywhere in the world, if they are Indian nationals and they are overstaying, or they are in a particular country without proper documentation, we will take them back provided documents are shared with us so that we can verify their nationality and that they are indeed Indians," he assured.
According to an analysis by Pew Research Center for the 2019-22 period, Indians ranked third in illegal migrantion in the US, after Mexico and El Salvador. According to the report, Mexico accounts for the highest number of illegal immigrants in the US, with nearly 40 lakh people, followed by El Salvador at 7.5 lakh and India with 7.25 lakh immigrants.
In 2023 alone, nearly 90,000 Indians were arrested as they tried to enter the United States illegally, a New York Times report citing US government data revealed.
In October 2024, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) deported over 1,100 Indian nationals through charter and commercial flights as they were staying illegally in the country.
(With inputs from agencies)
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