The deportation trend from the US, particularly to India, has escalated significantly, with a recent military flight transporting over 100 Indian nationals back to their home state. This move underscores a contentious aspect of US immigration policy and the challenges surrounding international deportation agreements.**
US Military Charters Flight for Over 100 Deportees to Punjab Amid Increasing Removals**
US Military Charters Flight for Over 100 Deportees to Punjab Amid Increasing Removals**
A US military aircraft carrying Indian nationals deported from America has landed in Amritsar, Punjab, highlighting ongoing tensions in immigration policy.**
A recent US military flight has made headlines as it landed in Amritsar, Punjab, carrying around 104 Indian nationals deported for allegedly entering the United States unlawfully. The aircraft, which took off from Texas, demonstrates the ongoing implementation of US President Donald Trump's robust immigration policies that prioritize the removal of undocumented immigrants.
In the past few years, the US has identified an estimated 18,000 Indian citizens believed to have entered illegally. Trump's administration has positioned the handling of these deportees as a cooperative effort with India, with the President claiming that Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured him of India's commitment to accept deportations.
Upon arrival, the deportees will be processed separately from regular travelers at designated counters set up by Punjabi authorities, who promise a "friendly" treatment of the returnees. These individuals will subsequently board transport to their home states, which include Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Uttar Pradesh, and Gujarat.
This flight is not an isolated incident; previous reports indicated that over 1,000 Indian nationals were deported from the US in the fiscal year 2024 alone, through various charter and commercial flights. In a single instance, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency deported another group of over 100 Indians, which reflects a growing trend in removals targeting Indian migrants.
The majority of Indian migrants originate from Punjab and Haryana, regions historically associated with international migration. Royce Bernstein Murray, assistant secretary at the US Department of Homeland Security, highlighted an increase in encounters with Indian nationals attempting to cross into the US over recent years. This trend has prompted significant deportations, with a cumulative 5,477 Indians reportedly removed from the US between 2018 and 2023.
Conflicting estimates exist regarding the number of undocumented Indians in the United States. While Pew Research Center suggests around 725,000, the Migration Policy Institute asserts a more conservative figure of 375,000. However, both figures affirm India's significant presence in the undocumented immigrant landscape.
As both nations navigate this complex terrain of illegal migration, Indian officials have reiterated their stance against unlawful migration interconnected with organized crime. Recent discussions between India and the US focus on refining processes for legal migration while mitigating illegal immigration, signifying a cooperative approach to the issue.
International deportation dynamics continue to evolve, with 1.44 million non-citizens presently in the US awaiting ICE actions on their removals. The classifications of "uncooperative" countries pose challenges for effective deportation processes, underscoring the fraught nature of current immigration policies underlined by partisanship and geopolitical negotiations.
