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The US military plane transporting 104 Indians deported as part of President Donald Trump's campaign against illegal immigrants has landed in Amritsar. The C-17 military aircraft took off from an airport in Texas yesterday.
Sources have told News Agency that each deported Indian national onboard the flight is "verified", indicating New Delhi's involvement in the process. This is likely the first of many such flights that will bring illegal Indian immigrants in the US back.
Immediately after he took over as US President, Trump has started cracking down on illegal immigrants. Earlier, US military aircraft have flown back immigrants deported to Guatemala, Peru and Honduras.
The first round of deportation of Indian nationals has taken amid reports that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is flying to the US next week. This will be his first visit after Trump took over as US President for the second time.
The US President has said that Prime Minister 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, India and the US have identified 18,000-odd Indian migrants who entered the US illegally.
External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar has said New Delhi is open to the "legitimate return" of Indian nationals living 'illegally' abroad, including in the US.
"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," Trump told reporters last month.
The Ministry of External Affairs has said India is against illegal immigration because it is linked to several forms of organised crime.
"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.