US: Around 200 ‘illegal alien‘ Indians heading back home, say reports

205 Indian nationals who lived in the USA illegally have been deported on a US military aircraft that took off from Texas on 4 January, Tuesday, as reported by NDTV.

As per the sources, each deported Indian national is verified, indicating New Delhi's involvement in the deportation process. This is likely to be the first of many flights bringing illegal Indian immigrants in the US back to India. 

A C-17 US military aircraft is used to deport the Indian nationals. “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,” US President Donald Trump told reporters last month. Unless fitted with an air-transportable galley, the US Air Force C-17 has a single toilet onboard for 205 passengers.

According to Reuters, the Pentagon has started providing flights to deport more than 5,000 immigrants held by US authorities in El Paso, Texas, and San Diego. Military aircraft have flown migrants to Guatemala, Peru and Honduras.

This first round of deportation of illegal Indian nationals was executed ait is speculated that PM Narendra Modi is flying to the US next week- his first visit during Trump's second presidency. India's External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar had earlier said New Delhi is open to the “legitimate return” of Indian nationals living 'illegally' abroad, including in the US.

Trump has said PM Modi had assured him that India “will do what's right” when it comes to taking back illegal Indian immigrants. According to a Bloomberg News report, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has identified 18,000 illegal Indian immigrants among 1.5 million individuals meant for deportation.

Based on the data from the Pew Research Centre, it is approximated that 7,25,000 illegal immigrants from India live in the US, making it the third-largest population of unauthorised immigrants after Mexico and El Salvador.

"For Indians not just in the United States, but anywhere in the world, if they are Indian nationals and they are overstaying, or they are in a particular country without proper documentation, we will take them back, provided documents are shared with us so that we can verify their nationality and that they are indeed Indians. If that happens to be the case, we will take things forward and facilitate their return to India," ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at a press briefing.

A spokesperson for the US Embassy in New Delhi said the US is “vigorously enforcing its border, tightening immigration laws, and removing illegal migrants.”

“These actions send a clear message: illegal migration is not worth the risk,” the spokesperson said.

Deportation, citizenship and the New American Dream:

“Birthright citizenship was, if you look back when this was passed and made, that was meant for the children of slaves. This was not meant for the whole world to come in and pile into the United States of America,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office of the White House on 30 January.

“Everybody coming in, and totally unqualified people with perhaps unqualified children. This wasn't meant for that," he said. Trump said he was 100 per cent in favour of birthright citizenship for the children of slaves, calling it a “good and noble thing to do.”

Trump's agenda of 'America for Americans', 'Make America Great Again' (MAGA) for second presidency is deeply intensified and disillusioned. Native American activists outfits claim who decides the what is the validity of 'illegal immigrants' on a land that was stolen.