Amritsar, Feb 5 (IANS) A US military aircraft carrying around 205 illegal immigrants, mostly from Punjab, who entered the US illegally and were deported on a C-17 plane that took off from San Antonio, Texas, is expected to land in Punjab’s Amritsar on Wednesday afternoon.
This is the first round of deportation of illegal immigrants that coincides with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington next week.
This will be PM Modi’s first visit after Donald Trump took over as US President for the second time.
External Affairs Minister (EAM) Dr S Jaishankar had earlier said that New Delhi is open to the “legitimate return” of Indian nationals living illegally abroad, including in the US.
India has expressed readiness to accept these migrants, post-verification, EAM Jaishankar conveyed this to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio last month.
“For the first time in history, we are locating and loading illegal aliens into military aircraft and flying them back to the places from which they came,” President Trump told reporters last month.
Punjab NRI Affairs Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal expressed disappointment over the US decision to deport the Indians, saying they have contributed to the US economy and should have been granted permanent residency, instead of being deported.
Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav said that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said from the Punjab government’s side, “we will receive our immigrants and set up counters for them there (at the airport).”
“We are in touch with the Centre. As and when information comes, we will share,” he told the media here on Tuesday.
Approximately 725,000 illegal immigrants from India live in the US, making it the third-largest population of unauthorised immigrants after Mexico and El Salvador, according to data from the Pew Research Centre.
Many people from Punjab, who are now facing deportation, had entered the US through the “donkey route” or other illegal means by spending lakhs of rupees.
The US administration has launched a crackdown against illegal immigrants after Trump became the President.
–IANS
vg/rad