Story by Raksha Bhattacharjee
February 15 and 16 will see the arrival of two aircraft at Amritsar’s Guru Ram Dass International Airport.
On February 15 and 16, two planes are scheduled to land at Amritsar’s Guru Ram Dass International Airport with 119 Indian migrants who were deported from the United States. On February 15 and 16, officials, who spoke to Hindustan Times on condition of anonymity, stated that both planes are expected to land around 10.05 p.m.
Punjab accounts for the majority of the deportees
On the flights, Punjab accounts for the majority of the deportees (67). According to PTI, they are followed by those from Haryana (33), Gujarat (8), Uttar Pradesh (3), Maharashtra (2), Goa (2), Rajasthan (2), and one each from Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir. Among the deportees slated to arrive in India are those who entered the country via Mexico and other countries. According to the officials, they also allegedly tore up their passports as soon as they entered the US unlawfully.
Amid the Donald Trump administration’s unprecedented crackdown on illegal immigration to the United States, the flights to Amritsar represent the second wave of migrants returning.
The first flight touched down on February 5.
A US military plane had previously touched down in Punjab’s Amritsar on February 5 with 104 illegal immigrants from different states. Three each from Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, two from Chandigarh, thirty from Punjab, and thirty-three each from Haryana and Gujarat made up the group. According to other deportees, they were tied hands and legs the entire way and only unchained once they landed in Amritsar.
There was a national outcry over this, and the opposition demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi bring up the matter with the US when he was in Washington.
Mallikarjun Kharge, the president of the Congress, has said that the Indian migrants received treatment that was “even worse than garbage.” New Delhi has complained to Washington over the treatment of deportees following a popular uproar in India.
Due to the deportations and the terrifying experiences of the Indian deportees, Punjabi and Haryana police have begun to crack down on suspicious travel agencies that accept large sums of money and facilitate the illegal movement of Indians to the United States.
