US Sends Back Plane Full of Illegal Indian Immigrants | News from India

NEW DELHI: The United States earlier this week sent back a planeload illegal Indian immigrants in India, according to an announcement by Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Indian government sources here said the deportation by chartered plane was a result of cooperation with the US on migration and mobility.
DHS said a large-frame removal charter flight to India of Indian nationals who have not established a legal basis to remain in the United States was conducted on Oct. 22. This demonstrates the department’s “continued commitment to pursue sustained cooperation with the Indian government and other international partners to reduce and deter irregular migration and to work together to combat people smuggling,” a statement said. presser. However, DHS did not provide details on the number of immigrants or where they came from in India.
“Indian nationals who do not have a legal basis to remain in the United States are subject to expedited removal, and intending migrants should not fall for the lies of smugglers who claim otherwise,” said a senior official acting as the deputy secretary of security. Internal, Kristie A. Canegallo. “DHS will continue to enforce our nation’s laws,” the official added.
Indian government sources said that as part of India-US cooperation on migration and mobility, both sides are engaged in a process to deter illegal migration. “This is being done to create more avenues for legal migration from India to the US. The latest deportation of Indian nationals by a charter flight it is the result of this cooperation,” said an official, adding that such deportations have been taking place for several years.
Since June 2024, DHS said, it has removed or returned more than 160,000 people and operated more than 495 international repatriation flights to more than 145 countries, including India.
The Indian government told Parliament last year that according to data published by US Customs and Border Protection on their website, the number of illegal Indian immigrants encountered by US authorities in 2023 was 96,917. The annual India-US Consular Dialogue is a mechanism through which both countries discuss consular issues of mutual interest, including ensuring safe and legal migration.
DHS said it regularly engages with foreign governments throughout the hemisphere and around the world to accept the repatriation of their citizens without a legal basis to remain in the United States.
“This is one tool among many uses by DHS to reduce irregular migration, promote the use of safe, legal and orderly pathways, and hold transnational criminal networks accountable for smuggling and exploiting vulnerable people,” it said.