A US military aircraft carrying 116 Indian immigrants deported from the United States landed at Amritsar International Airport late Saturday night, marking the second such deportation by the Donald Trump administration as part of its crackdown on illegal immigration. The C-17 aircraft, originally expected at 10 p.m., arrived around 11:35 p.m., official sources told news agency PTI.
The deportees, aged between 18 and 30, underwent immigration and background checks at the airport. They were later taken to their homes in police vehicles around 4:30 a.m. on Sunday. According to sources, of the 116 deportees, 65 are from Punjab, 33 from Haryana, eight from Gujarat, two each from Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan, and one each from Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.
Punjab NRI Affairs Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal and Power Minister Harbhajan Singh met with some of the deportees at the airport. “The state government stands by you like a rock. Do not lose heart,” Dhaliwal told them.
Several families of the deportees, who had gathered at the airport, appeared distressed. Many said they had raised money by pledging farmland and cattle to send their loved ones abroad for a better future. A family member of Daljit Singh from Kurala Kalan village in Punjab said his relative was duped by a travel agent. Daljit’s wife, Kamalpreet Kaur, alleged that the agent promised her husband a direct flight to the US but instead took him through the “donkey route,” a dangerous path used by migrants to enter the country illegally.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann criticised the Centre for allowing planes carrying deported immigrants to land in Amritsar. “Do not make our holy city a deport centre,” he said. Mann added that while the Punjab government had arranged transportation for the deportees to their hometowns, the Haryana government made similar arrangements for its residents.
Deportees from other states were flown to Delhi on Sunday morning and taken to their homes from there. Mann also questioned why the Centre had not started flight services to the US from Amritsar if it considered it the most suitable airport for such arrivals.
“Will they allow a plane carrying immigrants from the Vatican to land there if they hail from that place?” Mann asked, referring to BJP leader R P Singh’s justification that Amritsar was the closest international airport for planes entering India from the US.
Meanwhile, BJP general secretary Tarun Chugh accused Mann of politicising the deportation issue. Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa criticised the Punjab government for failing to curb human trafficking. Bajwa demanded answers on how many travel agents had been booked for their involvement in illegal immigration over the last three years.
In response to rising complaints about fraudulent travel agents, Punjab’s Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav recently formed a four-member Special Investigation Team (SIT), led by Additional Director General of Police (NRI Affairs) Praveen Sinha. The DGP urged the public to come forward with information regarding illegal immigration rackets.
Sources noted that this was the second such deportation from the US this month. The first batch of 104 illegal immigrants landed on February 5. Most of them were also from Punjab, Haryana, and Gujarat. Many of those deported earlier shared similar stories of being misled by agents, their dreams of a better life shattered after being caught at the US border and sent back in shackles.
A third plane carrying 157 deportees is expected to land at Amritsar International Airport on February 16, sources said.