A fourth group of illegal immigrants from India was deported by the US, arriving in New Delhi after traveling via Panama. This batch included 12 individuals, with four returning to Amritsar, Punjab. The US has been deporting Indian migrants since February 5, and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has assured that measures are in place to protect the deportees from mistreatment. Nearly 300 undocumented immigrants, including many children, are currently held in a Panama hotel while awaiting repatriation. The Trump administration is intensifying efforts to identify and deport unaccompanied minors who crossed the US-Mexico border.
New Delhi:
A fourth group of undocumented immigrants from India deported by the US arrived in Delhi today, according to officials.
The immigrants returned to India via Panama, officials reported. Among the 12 deported, four returned to Amritsar in Punjab.
The initial round of deportations occurred on February 5, when a US military aircraft carried 104 Indians back to Amritsar.
In response to criticism, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar mentioned that the Centre has been in talks with the US to ensure the deportees are treated humanely. He emphasized that the US deportation of illegal immigrants is not a recent issue and has been happening for years.
Approximately 300 immigrants deported under former President Donald Trump’s administration are currently being accommodated in a hotel in Panama while arrangements are made for their return to their home countries.
With 40 percent of those deported declining voluntary repatriation, UN agencies are exploring alternative destinations. This situation has raised alarms regarding their detention, as Panama serves as a transit country while the US covers the associated costs.
President Trump has stood by the widespread deportation of undocumented immigrants, asserting that his administration is “draining the swamp by sending home fraudsters, cheaters, globalists, and deep state bureaucrats.”
He has prioritized mass deportation of undocumented migrants in his policy agenda.
According to Pew Research Centre, as of 2022, unauthorized immigrants accounted for 3.3 percent of the overall US population, and 23 percent of the foreign-born population.
The first contingent of Indians deported by the US had previously arrived in Panama after an agreement was reached with President Jose Raul Mulino for his country to serve as a “bridge” for deportees.
The Trump administration is also instructing immigration agents to locate hundreds of thousands of unaccompanied migrant children who entered the US without their parents, thereby broadening the mass deportation initiatives, as per an internal memo accessed by news agency Reuters.
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) memo details an unparalleled effort to track down migrant children who crossed the border illegally as unaccompanied minors. It delineates a four-phase implementation process, starting with planning on January 27, though no specific date for enforcement operations has been disclosed, according to Reuters.
Since 2019, over six hundred thousand immigrant children have crossed the US-Mexico border without a parent or legal guardian, as per government data, coinciding with record numbers of migrants apprehended for illegal crossings.