Several Indian Deportees Were Outcasted from American Borders Within Two Months.
Summary: Some of the deportees were detained before being sent back to India.
According to The Indian Express, who spoke with many of the deported Indians and police sources, many of them had only arrived at the Mexico-US border last month or toward the end of December.
On Thursday, an Indian national who entered the US illegally claimed that he was detained for 20 days at the US border before being returned to India.
He said that despite being told that he would be sent legally, he was conned and ultimately fell prey to the "donkey" route. "I faced a lot of difficulties on the way. Now that I am back here, I will work here. I crossed the border with difficulty. I reached there in 8 months. I was jailed at the US border for 20 days and then I was sent back," said the man to the news agency ANI
He continued saying, "Now we will do farming here. The local MLA has said that the government will help us. We request the government to help us in getting our money back. We were lied to and sent illegally via donkey route.” According to him, except for children, everyone was chained.
An American deportee's father claimed that his son owned a store in Ambala but was tricked by a travel agency promising to transfer him to the US right away. Since his son was determined to travel to the US, he said, the agent deceived him by claiming he would send him there in a month.
He said, “The agent wasted 8-9 months, he took a lot of money. He took ₹40-45 lakhs. He crossed the US border on January 19 but he was immediately caught. They kept him with them for 5-7 days and then sent him back here. It took him 6 months to get there.”
Of the 104, 30 were from Gujarat and 30 from Punjab. Under President Donald Trump's new administration, border controls have become more stringent, and at least 15 people from Gujarat and Punjab were arrested at the Mexico-US border when they allegedly attempted to enter the US.
Recently, videos of US officials randomly verifying immigrants' legal status—including in schools—have gone viral on social media.
There have been appeals in Punjab for people to avoid traveling to the US illegally and for the government to solve the problems that force citizens to think about doing so.