After multiple Indian deportees claimed that they were handcuffed and had their legs chained during the long flight, the United States embassy maintained that it was enforcing immigration laws against “inadmissible and removable aliens,” while the Chief of the US Border Patrol shared photos of shackled Indians boarding the plane. https://thewire.in/diplomacy/us-border-chief-posts-video-of-shackled-indians-boarding-plane-opp-calls-it-black-day-for-india
The treatment of Indian citizens onboard the US military plane sparked an outcry from the opposition.
On Wednesday afternoon, 104 Indians arrested for entering the United States were deported to India on a US military plane after a gruelling 40-hour flight. On arrival at Amritsar air force base, they were grilled by security personnel, before they were allowed to return to their homes late in the night.
06/02/2025
‘Never Thought She’d Be Sent Back in a Month’: Families Grapple With Deportation of Kin From US
by Kusum Arora
Families of deported Indian migrants revealed that the US primarily targeted those who had entered the country recently, many through illegal routes. https://thewire.in/diplomacy/families-grapple-with-deportation-of-kin-from-us
Among them is 20-year-old Ajaydeep from Mahal village in the Amritsar cantonment, who went to the US via a ‘dunki’ route just 15 days ago. His grandfather confirmed that Ajaydeep had spoken to his mother before being deported. His mother, present at the airport exit gate, declined to speak to the media.
Another case is that of Harwinder Singh from Tahli village in Hoshiarpur district, who had illegally entered the US a month ago. At his home, villagers gathered to console his wife and brother, who disclosed that they had paid Rs 42 lakh to a travel agent to facilitate his journey.
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I risked everything for America—confinement, torture: Robin Handa returns to Haryana
“The hands and feet of children and women were tied in chains. The Punjabis were forced to remove their turbans on the plane, and wore them only after landing in India,” he said. Handa was part of the first batch of 104 illegal immigrants that the United States deported to India on 5 February. A bitter and humiliating end to their American dream.
Handa’s father Manjeet Singh paid Rs 45 lakh to send his son to America via the ‘dunki’ route – portrayed in Shah Rukh Khan’s 2023 film of the same name. The endeavour cost him a chunk of his land. While agents promised to send his son to the US in just a month, it took seven months for Robin to reach there.
Robin took a flight from Mumbai to Ghana on 24 July, from where he travelled by road to reach Brazil. He told ThePrint about crossing “the Amazon jungles, seas and rivers” before moving on to Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, and finally the US border.
He recalled his days in the Amazon rainforests, where he survived with little to no supplies. “There were 30 people in our group whom our agent was helping to cross the border. These people were from India, Nepal and Bangladesh. Agents used to beat them and did not even give them food,” he remembered.