A second batch of 119 illegal Indian immigrants deported under the current US administration landed in Amritsar just before midnight on Saturday. Among them was Daljit Singh, a native of Kurala Kalan village in Punjab’s Hoshiarpur district, who described the harsh conditions during their deportation.
“Our legs were chained, and our hands were also cuffed,” Singh told reporters in Hoshiarpur on Sunday.
Victims of the ‘donkey route’
Singh revealed that he had been taken to the US through the ‘donkey route’—an illegal and dangerous pathway used by migrants to enter the country. His wife, Kamalpreet Kaur, alleged that a travel agent had deceived them, promising a direct flight to the US but instead sending him through multiple locations.
The C-17 aircraft carrying the deportees landed at Amritsar airport at 11:35 PM on Saturday. This marks the second large-scale deportation of Indians from the US following a similar flight on February 5. The deportees were taken through immigration and background checks before being transported to their respective states by police vehicles, with Punjab and Haryana governments arranging transportation.
Many deportees from the first batch had hoped for a better life in the US but were caught at the border and sent back in shackles. The fresh batch of deportees includes 65 individuals from Punjab, 33 from Haryana, and others from Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir. Most of them are between 18 and 30 years old.
More deportations expected
According to sources, a third plane carrying 157 more deportees is expected to land at Amritsar airport on Sunday, signalling an ongoing crackdown on illegal immigration by the US administration.
(With PTI inputs)