US plane brings 104 deported Indians to Amritsar airport

A US military aircraft carrying 104 illegal immigrants from various states landed here on Wednesday the first such batch of Indians deported by the Trump government as part of a crackdown it resolved to carry out when it was sworn in last monthOf them 33 each are from Haryana and Gujarat 30 from Punjab three each from Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh and two from Chandigarh sources saidNineteen women and 13 minors including a 4yearold boy and two girls aged five and seven years were among the deportees they saidThe C17 Globemaster aircraft of the US Air Force landed at the Amritsar airport at 155 pm The US action came just days before Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to Washington to hold wideranging talks with President Donald TrumpThe deportees were questioned inside the airport terminal building by different government agencies including the Punjab Police and various state and central intelligence agencies to check if they have any criminal recordAround 645 pm the deportees from Punjab were taken to their respective hometowns in police vehicles after completion of all formalities Similarly illegal immigrants from Haryana were taken by the state police to their native places sources saidThey also said that arrangements were made by the state governments concerned to take the deportees to their native places None of the deportees spoke to the mediaThere was heavy barricading outside the airport and police personnel were deployed in large numbersExcept for an Amritsarbased man who came for his grandson none of the family members of other deportees showed up at the airport He however refused to talk to reporters at the airport and seemed miffed by the volley of questionsEarlier media reports claimed that the US military plane was carrying 205 illegal immigrantsAmong the illegal immigrants hailing from Punjab six were from Kapurthala five from Amritsar four each from Patiala and Jalandhar two each from Hoshiarpur Ludhiana SBS Nagar and one each from Gurdaspur Tarn Taran Sangrur SAS Nagar and Fatehgarh Sahib sources saidFamily members of the illegal immigrants from Punjab said they took huge loans to send the youths to America hoping for a bright future but now feel it is impossible to break free from the crushing debtThey alleged that the travel agents adopted unfair means to facilitate the youths travel to the US without their knowledge They now seek strict action against those agentsHours after the US military aircraft landed at the airport Punjab NRI Affairs minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal sought Prime Minister Narendra Modis intervention urging him to speak to his friend US President Donald Trump regarding the deportation of IndiansDhaliwal also spoke to some of the deportees hailing from Punjab at the airportAddressing the media Dhaliwal said a total of 104 Indians have been deported from the US and out of them 30 were from Punjab It was a long flight All are healthy and fine they had their meal he saidPaperwork of deportees hailing from Punjab was done in the first batch Thereafter the immigration process of those from Haryana Gujarat and other states will be carried out the minister saidDescribing the deportation of illegal Indians from the US as a very serious issue Dhaliwal said We all know that PM Modi used to say that Trump is my friend He even campaigned for Trump during the 2019 US elections These are international issues and can be discussed and resolved at that level I urge PM Modi that the sword of deportation and jail is hanging on the heads of many Indians and he should hold their hands He should sit with Trump and find a solution to this issue Senior Punjab BJP leader Harjit Singh Grewal asked Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to make arrangements for the resettlement and employment of those from the state who have been deported by the US governmentHe also demanded strict action against the travel agents who sent the youths to the US through donkey routes and other illegal means by taking lakhs of rupees from themMeanwhile the Congress expressed sadness over pictures of Indians getting handcuffed and humiliated while being deported from the US and recalled that America had to express regret over the treatment meted out to India diplomat Devyani Khobragade in 2013 after the then UPA government retaliated sharplyCongress MP Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday said the media kerfuffle over the deportation of illegal Indian migrants from the United States obscures a few factsThis is not the first such planeload nor is it directly related to the ascent of realDonaldTrump There were 1100 Indians deported in the previous fiscal year ending September 2024 under Biden not Trump As of 2022 there were 725000 undocumented Indian immigrants in the US the thirdlargest group outnumbered only by nationals of Mexico and El Salvador he saidSince October 2020 US Customs and Border Protection officials have detained nearly 170000 Indian migrants attempting to cross the border illegally from either Canada or Mexico They are all subject to deportation Tharoor saidAfter Donald Trump assumed office as the US President last month the countrys law enforcement agencies have launched a crackdown against illegal immigrants Many Indians who entered the US through donkey routes or other illegal means by spending lakhs of rupees are now facing deportationPunjab Director General of Police DGP Gaurav Yadav said on Tuesday that the state government would receive the immigrants and set up counters at the airportThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever