'Haha wow', Elon Musk reacted to White House video showing illegal immigrants being chained before deportation
The shackling of illegal immigrants deported by the US has been a contentious issue, and Colombia had even refused to accept its citizens sent back on military aircraft. In India too, videos showing deported Indian nationals being shackled had triggered massive outrage.
Tesla CEO and US President Donald Trump's right-hand man Elon Musk has reacted to a video showing shackled illegal immigrants boarding a deportation flight. 'Haha wow,' Musk responded to the video shared by the White House on X.
In the video, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) can be seen lining up the illegal immigrants, who are then handcuffed and shackled, before they are led to their deportation flight.
CREDIT: REUTERS
White House shares deportation video
The video also showed several illegal immigrants walking and climbing the steps to board their flights, with their hands and legs tied.
"ASMR: Illegal Alien Deportation Flight," the White House captioned its video on X.
Haha wow ?? https://t.co/PXFXpiGU0U
¡ª Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 18, 2025
Details of the flight, including its destination or the number of illegal immigrants deported on it, are unclear, but it appears that it was not destined for India.
That is because all three deportation flights to India so far have been military ones, while the one seen in the White House video is a civilian aircraft.
Controversy over mistreatment of deportees
The shackling of illegal immigrants deported by the US has been a contentious issue, and Colombia had even refused to accept its citizens sent back on military aircraft.
CREDIT: REUTERS
In India too, videos showing deported Indian nationals being shackled had triggered massive outrage. But the government has played it down, saying ICE was only following protocol and also pointed out that women and children were not restrained during the deportation.
Deportation flights to India
The first deportation flight, carrying 104 illegal Indian immigrants, landed in Amritsar on February 5. This was followed by a second aircraft on February 15, which brought 116 deportees from the United States.
The third US military aircraft, carrying 112 illegal Indian immigrants, landed at the Amritsar airport a day later on February 16.
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Bobins Abraham is the Assistant News Editor at Indiatimes. He has more than twelve years of experience in TV and digital journalism. An avid student of history and geopolitics, he is a conservationist and environmentalist at heart. He writes on environment, sustainability, human-animal conflict and more.
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