US deportation flight carrying illegal Indian migrants lands in Punjab 

New Delhi — 

A U.S. deportation formation carrying Indian nationals accused of entering the U.S. illegally landed successful the bluish authorities of Punjab Wednesday – the archetypal specified formation to India since the Trump medication launched a crackdown connected amerciable immigrants.

The subject aircraft, which landed amid choky security, brought 104 deportees, according to media reports. Authorities did not corroborate the number, but said the deportees volition beryllium received successful a affable manner.

New Delhi, which does not privation to marque amerciable migration a contentious contented with Washington, has said that it is unfastened to the instrumentality of undocumented Indians successful the United States if their nationality is verified.

President Donald Trump said past week that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had assured him that the state would "do what's right" successful taking backmost amerciable immigrants. His remark came pursuing a telephone speech with Modi.

In New Delhi, overseas ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told a media briefing connected Friday that India and the United States are engaged successful a process to deter amerciable migration and “cooperation betwixt India and the U.S. is beardown and effectual successful this domain. This volition beryllium evident successful times to come.”

Trade and migration are expected to beryllium cardinal issues during a gathering that could instrumentality spot adjacent week betwixt Trump and Modi.

“India does not privation to absorption connected the contented of amerciable migrants being deported. We cognize it is large concern successful India, sending migrants illegally. Instead, the government’s involvement is successful ensuring that ineligible migration channels to the U.S. for Indian nationals are not restricted by the Trump administration,” according to Manoj Joshi, Distinguished Fellow astatine the Observer Research Foundation successful New Delhi.

Those ineligible routes are H-1B visas for skilled workers and visas for students.

“Both sides are engaged successful a process to deter amerciable migration, portion besides creating much avenues for ineligible migration from India to the U.S.,” Jaiswal has said.

The fig of Indian migrants attempting to participate the U.S. unlawfully has grown successful caller years, with India present accounting for the largest fig of amerciable immigrants to the United States from Asian countries, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection data.

Their wide numbers, however, are inactive small; Indians relationship for lone astir 3 percent of amerciable crossings.

The United States has identified immoderate 18,000 undocumented Indian migrants to beryllium sent backmost home, according to a Bloomberg study past week.

Deportation flights to India are not caller — betwixt October 2023 and September 2024, much than 1,000 Indian nationals were repatriated, but Wednesday's formation was the archetypal clip that they were sent backmost via subject aircraft.

The deportation formation was routed to Amritsar metropolis successful Punjab, which is among the 3 states wherever overmuch of the amerciable migration from India to the U.S. originates. The others are Haryana successful the northbound and the occidental authorities of Gujarat.

Hours earlier the formation landed, Punjab’s curate for NRI (Non-Resident Indians) Affairs, Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, urged radical successful the authorities to debar amerciable migration and alternatively absorption connected acquiring skills and acquisition to entree planetary opportunities done ineligible channels.