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The United States today defended its decision to send 104 Indian migrants, who tried to enter the US illegally, on a C-17 military aircraft which landed in Amritsar yesterday. The deportees, many of whom endured perilous journeys through multiple countries to reach the United States, were shackled and restrained throughout the flight, only to be freed upon arrival in India.
The US Embassy in India said that "enforcing our nation's immigration laws is critically important to the national security and public safety of the United States."
The migrants, hailing from various Indian states, were rounded up in a sweeping crackdown on illegal immigration. Among them, 33 were from Haryana and Gujarat, 30 from Punjab, three from Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, and two from Chandigarh. Nineteen women and 13 minors, including a four-year-old boy and two girls aged five and seven, were also on the flight.
"I cannot go into further detail on the flight. I can share that enforcing our nation's immigration laws is critically important to the national security and public safety of the United States. It is the policy of the United States to faithfully execute the immigration laws against all inadmissible and removable aliens," a US Embassy spokesperson said.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar addressed the Parliament today amid a political row over the deportation. He downplayed the deportations as part of an ongoing process and said that such expulsions were routine.
"The process of deportation by the US is not new. It has been there for years. Hundreds of Indians have been deported annually, with figures ranging from 530 in 2012 to over 2,000 in 2019," Mr. Jaishankar said.
"It is in our collective interest to encourage legal mobility and discourage illegal movement. It is the obligation of all countries to take back their nationals if they are found to be living illegally abroad," he added.
Trinamool Congress MP Saket Gokhale and Aam Aadmi Party's Sanjay Singh, speaking shortly after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar's speech in Parliament today, pointed out that the Indian government had previously arranged special flights to evacuate its citizens from crisis zones.
"We are the fifth largest economy in the world and soon we will become 'Vishwa Guru'. As 'Vishwa Guru', our citizens are being shackled in chains when countries like Colombia, which doesn't even figure in the top 10, can send an aircraft and bring their citizens back with dignity. What stops our government from sending an aircraft? We don't have a shortage of it," said Mr Gokhale in Parliament.
Amid the backlash, the Centre is considering enacting a new law, tentatively titled the Overseas Mobility (Facilitation and Welfare) Bill, 2024. The legislation aims to promote "safe, orderly, and regular migration for overseas employment" and could serve as a framework for future deportation and immigration policies.