A plane with 112 Indians, who were deported from the United States for illegally residing in the country, landed in Amritsar on Sunday night, the third such arrival in a span of 10 days as part of the Donald Trump administration’s crackdown on such immigrants.
The flight C-17 Globemaster aircraft of the US Air Force landed at the Amritsar International Airport at around 10.03 pm, according to sources.
Of the total deportees, 31 are from Punjab, 44 from Haryana, 33 from Gujarat, two from Uttar Pradesh and one each from Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The families of some of them reached the airport to receive them.
The deportees will be allowed to head to their homes after completion of all formalities, including immigration, verification and background checks. Arrangements have been made for the transportation of deportees to their destination, the sources said.
The first round of deportation had taken place on February 5, when a US military plane transported 104 Indians to Amritsar. A second plane carrying 116 Indians landed on Saturday.
During the first round of deportation, the people were shackled and restrained throughout the flight, only to be freed upon arrival in India – a move that triggered a political storm in India, and led to an uproar in both Houses of Parliament during the then ongoing Budget session. Similar allegations of ill-treatment were also made by those who returned on Saturday.
Amid criticism, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar earlier said the Centre is engaging with the US to ensure the deportees are not mistreated. He also said the US’ deportation of illegal migrants is not a new development and has been going on for years.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was in the US earlier this week, said India will take back any of its citizens living illegally in the US. He, however, emphasised that efforts need to be made to end human trafficking.
“Our bigger fight is against that entire ecosystem, and we are confident that President Trump will fully cooperate with India in finishing this ecosystem,” he said.
In its defense, the US Embassy in India said “enforcing our nation’s immigration laws is critically important to the national security and public safety of the United States”. “It is the policy of the United States to faithfully execute the immigration laws against all inadmissible and removable aliens,” an embassy spokesperson said.
India is the third source of undocumented immigrants in the US after Mexico and El Salvador.
Most of the deportees belonging to Punjab earlier said they wanted to migrate to the US for a better life for their families. However, their dreams were shattered when they were caught on the US border and sent back in shackles.