Days after the Donald Trump administration accelerated the crackdown on illegal immigrants in the US, the first batch of Indian nationals who entered the country illegally has been deported. According to reports, a C-17 military aircraft carrying illegal immigrants from India has departed from the US and is expected to reach its destination within 24 hours.
The number of Indian nationals deported from the US on the first deportation flight to India is still unknown. It is also unclear if the Indian nationals who have been deported are accused of committing serious crimes, like those illegals from Mexico, Guatemala, and El Salvador.
According to a Reuters report, the C-17 military aircraft carrying Indian nationals is the longest deportation flight by the US so far since the 'largest deportation operation in US history' began.
Also read: US Military aircraft used to deport undocumented immigrants back to their home countries
Indians form the third-largest illegal immigrant population in the US. There are about 725,000 Indians who entered the US illegally. Most of these illegal immigrants are from states including Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana.
Most of these illegal immigrants use what is called the donkey route, where they create a false travel trail by travelling to different countries before attempting to enter the US illegally from the Mexican or Canadian borders.
Recently, there were reports that India and the US have identified some 18,000 Indian migrants who are in the US illegally.
Last month, Minister of External Affairs S. Jaishankar, who was in the US for Donald Trump's inauguration, had said that India was open to the return of undocumented Indians in the US.
¡°We have always taken the view that if there are any of our citizens who are not here legally, if we are sure that they are our citizens, we have always been, you know, open to their legitimate return to India,¡± Jaishankar had said.
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