Kaithal: Amid the ongoing US crackdown by the Donald Trump led US administration against illegal immigrants from the country, a youth from Haryana's Kaithal has demanded strict action against the 'donkey route', the illegal pathway adopted by travel agents to send Indians abroad.
Mandeep Singh, a resident of village Majra in Kaithal, was part of the 2nd batch of 117 Indian immigrants deported by the US on Saturday.
The batch of Indian immigrants was deported in a special US flight, which landed at the Amritsar airport and included 33 people from Haryana out of whom 9 are from Karnal and 2 people were from Kurukshetra.
Mandeep, one of the deportees, narrated his ordeal of sneaking into the US through the 'donkey route' only ending up being deported back home. Mandeep, who has studied till graduation, said he had tried to go abroad on study basis many times before, but to no avail. He later tried the 'donkey route' and ended up paying Rs 40 lakh to the travel agent by selling off one acre of his land and taking loan from a moneylender.
Mandeep said that the travel agent had assured him that he will reach the US in a month well before Trump's inauguration. But it took him five months to reach the country only after scaling mountains and crossing rivers. Mandeep said that he went without food many times and had to endure many types of torture.
But as soon as he crossed the US border, Mandeep was arrested by the police and put in a detention center where he was lodged for 20-22 days leading to his deportation back to India, Mandeep said.
Mandeep demanded a crackdown against the 'donkey route' and unscrupulous travel agents so that people are not trapped in the false promises of travel abroad.
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