Two more US flights carrying deported Indian immigrants will land in India this week, just days after the Donald Trump administration deported 104 illegal migrants.
It is unclear how many Indians will arrive. According to sources, the second flight will arrive in Amritsar on February 15, followed by another one days later.
Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Cheema has claimed that the plan to land deportation flights in Amritsar is an attempt by the NDA-led Centre to discredit the state. Why not Haryana or Gujarat? This is obviously an attempt by the BJP to destroy Punjab’s image. “This aircraft should land in Ahmedabad instead,” he told India Today.
The revelation comes as Prime Minister Narendra Modi prepares to meet with Trump in the United States, where illegal immigration is expected to be a significant topic of discussion.
The method in which the initial group of deportees were transported, shackled and legs chained, sparked widespread indignation. Mallikarjun Kharge, the Congress president, claimed that they were handled “even worse than garbage”. The Grand Old Party has encouraged Modi to discuss the way of deportations with Trump during his conversations.
Following a major outcry in India, New Delhi expressed its concerns to Washington about the treatment of deportees.
The deportations and terrible experiences of Indian deportees prompted Punjab and Haryana police to initiate a crackdown on bogus travel agencies who take large sums of money and facilitate illegal Indian migration to the United States.
Also read | ‘Detained for 11 days before deportation’: Indian returns from US share ordeal.
Nearly 600 Indians on the’removal’ list.
HT previously reported that the US had told India that 487 “presumed Indian citizens” had been served with final removal orders, and that American police had gathered up another 203 illegal migrants in sweeps last month, largely along the Mexican border.
The initial 104 deportations aboard a C-17 military aircraft were part of the United States’ efforts to return the 203 detainees. India apparently validated the names of 96 of the remaining 99 people in that group, who are scheduled to be deported.
Vikram Misri, India’s foreign secretary, stated that the US had informed the Centre about individuals served with final removal orders. “In recent conversations, when we sought details about potential returnees from the US, we have been told that there are up to 487 presumed Indian citizens with final removal orders with the US authorities,” he told me.
