The US government has reportedly deported over 200 Indians as they were living illegally in that country.
According to reports, a C 17 aircraft with illegal immigrants took off from Texas in the US, and was bound for India. There are over 18,000 illegal Indians believed to be living in the US.
They are likely to be deported due to the Trump administration’s decision to off-load global citizens living in that country without valid documents.
Indian officials did not comment about the aforesaid deportation of Indians from the US. Meanwhile MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal cautioned against putting out a figure of undocumented Indians.
He said it would be premature to talk about the number of Indians living in the US. The US embassy here neither confirmed nor denied the move to return Indian immigrants.
A US embassy spokesperson broadly asserted that Washington is removing illegal migrants.
A clear message
“The United States is vigourously enforcing its border, tightening immigration laws, and removing illegal migrants. These actions send a clear message: illegal migration is not worth the risk,” the spokesperson said, according to agency reports.
Meanwhile, the Centre has agreed to accept deported Indian nationals after due process of verification of their identity.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had stated in January that India will facilitate the return of undocumented Indians living abroad. “So, with every government, and the US is no exception, we have always maintained that if any of our citizens are there illegally, and if we are sure that they are our citizens, we have always been open to their legitimate return to India,” he had clarified.
‘What is right’
Jaishankar said India is “firmly opposed to illegal mobility and illegal migration… when something illegal happens, many other illegal activities get joined onto it, which is not desirable. It is certainly not good reputationally.”
In January, US President Donald Trump said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will do “what is right” on illegal immigrants. The US government is actively pursuing mass deportation of illegal immigrants living in that country, with military flights sending undocumented persons to Latin American countries.