First batch of illegal Indian immigrants from US: 25 women and 12 minors

The deportation of 104 undocumented Indian immigrants marks the first large-scale action of its kind by the US under the second term of President Donald Trump

A US military C-17 aircraft carrying 104 illegal Indian immigrants arrived at Sri Guru Ram Das Jee International Airport, Amritsar, on Wednesday under tight security. Of the deportees, the group comprised 25 women and 12 minors, with the youngest deportee being just four years old. Nearly 48 of them are below the age of 25.

 

 

This marks the first large-scale deportation of Indians from the US under the second term of President Donald Trump.

 

The highest numbers of illegal Indian migrants hailed from Haryana (30) and Gujarat (30), followed by Punjab (30). The remaining included individuals from Maharashtra (3), Uttar Pradesh (2), and Chandigarh (2). 

 

The special deportation flight, which took off from San Antonio, Texas, on Tuesday, was accompanied by 45 US officials overseeing the process and 11 crew members.

 

A senior Punjab government official confirmed that most deportees from the state belonged to Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Jalandhar, Nawanshahr, Patiala, Mohali, and Sangrur. Some had illegally entered the US, while others overstayed their visas.

 

PM Modi’s visit to US

This deportation coincides with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s upcoming visit to Washington next week, his first since Donald Trump secured a second term as US President. Last month, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar assured US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that India was open to the “legitimate return” of its undocumented nationals, pending verification.

 

President Trump had earlier stated, “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.” His administration has intensified its crackdown on illegal immigration, significantly impacting Indian migrants, particularly from Punjab.

 

Concerns over deportation

 

Punjab’s NRI Affairs Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal criticised the move, arguing that these individuals had contributed to the US economy and should have been granted permanent residency instead of being expelled.

 

According to the Pew Research Center, approximately 7,25,000 illegal Indian immigrants reside in the US, making them the third-largest group of unauthorised migrants after those from Mexico and El Salvador. Many from Punjab reportedly took the perilous ‘donkey route’—an illegal migration pathway involving multiple countries — by paying lakhs of rupees to human traffickers. 

 

With Trump’s administration tightening immigration policies, more such deportations are expected in the coming months, further affecting the Indian diaspora in the US.

 

[With inputs from agencies]