US deports 220 Indians: Why Rera-like body is needed for immigration agents

Lack of regulation is enabling illegal activities, says immigration attorney

The second batch of undocumented Indian immigrants deported from the United States landed in Punjab on Saturday. A US C-17 military aircraft carrying 116 people arrived at Amritsar International Airport, following an earlier deportation of 104 individuals on February 5.

 

US authorities have identified around 18,000 Indian nationals believed to have entered the country illegally, as mass deportations continue to be a policy focus for Donald Trump.

 

Over the past 15 years, 15,756 Indians living illegally in the US have been sent back, according to India's external affairs minister S Jaishankar. Many say they were deceived by agents, while others knowingly took the risk.

 

 

How govt failed to regulate agents

 

In a telephonic conversation with Business Standard, immigration attorney and founder of Ajmera Law Group, Prashant Ajmera, said the government has failed to regulate agents who facilitate illegal migration.

 

“Every year in parliament, this question is raised: how many migrants are going illegally? How many complaints have been received? The Ministry of External Affairs receives complaints daily, with people reporting that they were taken by an agent and that the government is not taking action. The government does not seem interested in regulating agents and consultants, which is why these individuals have spread across India,” Ajmera said.

 

He explained that attempts at reform have stalled. “In the 1970s and 1980s, when immigration picked up pace, the Emigration Act, 1983 was introduced to regulate the migration of Indian workers to the Middle East under the Ministry of External Affairs. In 2019, the government drafted a new bill (Emigration Bill, 2019) during Sushma Swaraj's tenure as minister to replace the outdated one, but it remains in draft form. In 2023, an Emigration (Amendment) Bill was introduced, focusing on improving the welfare of emigrants. As of now, this amendment has not been enacted into law.”

 

He pointed out the lack of oversight. “Tomorrow, for example, you could decide to stop writing a column and become an immigration consultant. There’s nothing to stop you.”

 

What must change?

 

Ajmera argues that the government must regulate the immigration consultancy business, just as it does with other sectors.

 

“In the last three to five years, especially after the pandemic, how many immigration scams have been exposed in India? Just in the media alone, we see reports of people getting into trouble—deportations from Canada and the USA, agents taking money and disappearing. This happens in Punjab, Delhi, Gujarat, and Andhra Pradesh on a weekly basis.”

 

He compared the situation to education. “If I want to start an educational institute in India, I need permission from both the state and federal governments before I can open a college or university. But if I am a foreign education institute—whether Harvard or an unknown private college—I can appoint unregulated agents in India as many as I want and recruit students freely. There’s nothing to stop me. And that doesn’t make sense.”

 

Ajmera believes the lack of regulation is enabling illegal activities. “Right now, illegal agents don’t even open official offices. The ones taking people out of India—whether to Canada, the USA, or elsewhere—operate under the guise of student visa consultants. Their front-end business may look legitimate: ‘We do student visas for Canada and Australia,’ they say. But it’s a trap. Students walk in and say, ‘Sir, I’m not well-educated. I don’t speak good English. Can you help me?’ Or someone walks in and says, ‘I’m ready to pay anything to go abroad.’ That’s when these so-called consultants connect them to illegal agents.”

 

He detailed the financial incentives behind the system. “The consultants take a commission—five to ten lakh rupees as a referral fee—and act as recruiters for the agents who send people abroad illegally. That’s the network. How else would an ordinary person in a small Punjab village find an agent in Delhi? They go to their local agent, who then introduces them to someone who can arrange everything—at a price.”

 

Lack of official oversight

 

When asked whether these agents are listed as active recruitment agents on government websites, as mandated by MEA, Ajmera said, “No, they aren’t. They have their own websites. Tomorrow, you could open ‘XYZ Immigration Consultancy Services,’ and no one would stop you.”

 

“These agents advertise aggressively—how else could they afford to spend Rs 50 lakh to Rs 1 crore on newspaper ads, seminars, billboards, and sponsorships? They make money by attracting large numbers of clients. While they handle some legal student visas and work permits, their real focus is on high-paying clients who are willing to spend Rs 30 to Rs 40 lakh. In Gujarat, the rate can go up to one crore. This is an unregulated industry, and it’s happening continuously.”

 

Ajmera pointed out that similar problems existed in the real estate sector before the introduction of the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA). “Before RERA, anyone could call themselves a developer and take money from people. Eventually, the government acted because too many people were being scammed. The same is happening in immigration—people are losing their money, going abroad illegally, and sometimes even dying in the process. Unless the government regulates agents and student visa consultancies, foreign universities will keep appointing as many agents as they like, with no oversight.”

 

Enforcement action

 

The Enforcement Directorate is now investigating a “complex network” of agents and facilitators in India, Canada, and the US who help Indians enter the US illegally. More than 8,500 monetary transactions are under scrutiny in a case linked to a Gujarat Police crime branch investigation from 2023.

 

Woes of deportees

 

Since the deportees' return, many have shared stories of being defrauded by agents. Robin Handa, a 27-year-old computer engineer from Haryana, said his family paid Rs 43 lakh to a travel agent who promised he would reach the US within a month. Instead, he endured a six-month journey through multiple countries, often going hungry, before being arrested at the US border.

 

Jagtar Singh from Punjab’s Bhateri village said he paid to join his US-based brother but was caught by US border patrol officers after entering the country illegally via Mexico. “My dream of building a better life has been shattered and my life has been ruined,” he said.

 

Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reaffirmed India’s commitment to taking back its nationals and cracking down on the “human trafficking ecosystem.”

 

“These are children of very ordinary families, and they are lured by big dreams and promises,” he said during a visit to Washington.

 

Contested illegal Indian immigrant numbers

 

Unauthorised immigrants make up 3% of the US population and 22% of the foreign-born population. The number of undocumented Indians among them is disputed, with estimates varying widely.

 

< Pew Research Center and the Center for Migration Studies of New York estimate 700,000 undocumented Indians in 2022, making them the third-largest group after Mexico and El Salvador.

< The Migration Policy Institute puts the figure at 375,000, ranking India fifth among origin countries.

< The Department of Homeland Security’s official data reports 220,000 unauthorised Indians in 2022.

 

The variations highlight the uncertainty surrounding the true size of the undocumented Indian population in the US.