Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India will take back "verified illegals" residing in the United States. PM Modi was responding to a question during a joint press conference with US President Donald Trump on the issue of illegal immigrants from India living in the US.
“Those who stay in other countries illegally do not have any legal right to be there. As far as India and the US are concerned, we have always said that those who are verified and are truly the citizens of India – if they live in the US illegally, India is ready to take them back," Prime Minister Modi said.
He further said that these people come from ordinary families who are shown big dreams. "They are shown big dreams and most of them are such who are misled and brought here So, we should attack this entire system of human trafficking."
Modi also said that India and the US should come together to destroy this "ecosystem from its roots so that human trafficking ends." Earlier this month, the Trump administration sent back a first batch of 104 Indian illegal immigrants aboard a military aircraft.
Many of the Indians who were deported from the US said that they were detained at the US border before being sent back to India. One of the deportees said that he was jailed for 20 days at the US border before being sent back to India.
He added that he was lied to that he would be sent legally but ended up becoming a victim of the 'donkey route instead. "I faced a lot of difficulties on the way. Now that I am back here, I will work here. I crossed the border with difficulty. I reached there is 8 months. I was jailed at the US border for 20 days and then I was sent back," he told news agency ANI.
The deportee also mentioned that everyone, except children, was chained and were told they were being sent back to India. Last week, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said the US authorities informed India that there are around 487 presumed Indians with "final removal order" and the identification details of 298 individuals have been given to New Delhi.