New Delhi: The United States is rigorously tightening immigration laws, the American embassy said on Tuesday amid reports that a US military aircraft is bringing some illegal migrants to India. The first round of deportation of illegal Indian nationals from the US comes around two weeks after Donald Trump became the US president for a second term.
Trump has promised a strict policy approach in dealing with illegal immigrants residing in the US and already signed a number of immigration-related executive orders. Asked about the deportation flight bringing back a group of illegal migrants to India, a US embassy spokesperson did not provide details but asserted that Washington is removing illegal migrants.
"I can't share any details on those inquires, but I can share, on the record, the United States is vigorously enforcing its border, tightening immigration laws, and removing illegal migrants," the official said. "These actions send a clear message: illegal migration is not worth the risk," he added.
Following his phone conversation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on January 27, Trump said India "will do what is right" on the deportation of illegal migrants from the US.
Last month, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said it is opposed to illegal immigration and would be ready to take back Indians staying illegally in the US provided their nationality is verified.
India is opposed to illegal immigration because of its links to several forms of organised crime, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on January 24.
"We will take them back provided documents are shared with us so that we can verify their nationality, that they are indeed Indians," he said. At the same time, Jaiswal said it would be "premature" to talk about the number of illegal Indian immigrants staying in the US.
The EAM identified some 18,000 undocumented Indian migrants to be sent back home. According to a report by Bloomberg, most of these 18,000 Indians allegedly living illegally in the US are from Punjab and Gujarat. The number could be much higher as according to a 2023 report by the US Department of Homeland Security, there were 2.2 lakh unauthorized Indian immigrants residing in the US as of 2022.
