- Saturday, February 15, 2025
After Donald Trump assumed office as the US president, the country’s law enforcement agencies have launched a crackdown against illegal immigrants
By: India Weekly
A US plane carrying 119 illegal immigrants is likely to land at Amritsar airport on February 15, the second such batch of Indians deported by the Trump government after it was sworn in last month.
According to official sources, the plane is expected to land at the airport around 10 pm on Saturday.
Among the 119 illegal Indian immigrants, 67 hail from Punjab, 33 from Haryana, eight from Gujarat, three from Uttar Pradesh, two each from Goa, Maharashtra and Rajasthan and one each from Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, they said.
Another US plane carrying deportees is also expected to land on February 16.
The development came days after a US military aircraft carrying 104 illegal Indian immigrants landed at the Amritsar airport last week.
Of them, 33 each were from Haryana and Gujarat and 30 from Punjab.
Most of the deportees hailing from Punjab had said they wanted to migrate to the US for a better life for their families.
However, their dreams were shattered when they were caught at the US border and brought back in shackles.
After Donald Trump assumed office as the US president, the country’s law enforcement agencies have launched a crackdown against illegal immigrants.
Many people from Punjab and some other states, who entered the US through “donkey routes” – an illegal and risky pathway used by migrants to enter America or other illegal means by spending millions of rupees – are now facing deportation.
Several political leaders in Punjab had questioned the landing of a US aircraft in Amritsar.
“The BJP-led Central government wants to defame Punjab. Why does it not land in Gujarat, Haryana or Delhi?” Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said on Thursday while replying to a question on the likely arrival of another US plane carrying illegal immigrants.
Notably, the Punjab government had recently formed a special investigation team to probe the issue of illegal human trafficking following the deportation of Indian citizens domiciled in Punjab from the US.
The SIT has so far registered 10 FIRs against fraudulent immigration consultants on the statements of deportees, said a senior police official.
Tharoor’s concern
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Friday (14) expressed hope that prime minister Narendra Modi conveyed to US president Donald Trump that deporting Indians in shackles in a military aircraft was not right and added the two leaders’ press conference suggested they had a good meeting.
Trump hosted Modi for talks at the White House early on Friday during which they discussed bilateral, regional and global issues.
“I hope, behind closed doors, he (Modi) said to the Americans, ‘You can’t insult our people. You can send them back, they are illegal, we will look after them, they belong in our country but don’t send them back in shackles and handcuffs on a military aircraft… That is not right’…” Tharoor told PTI Videos on the sidelines of the Invest Karnataka summit.
“I hope he (Modi) has said it behind closed doors. We don’t know,” the Thiruvananthapuram MP added. (PTI)
