Over Thousand Indians Repatriated for Trying to Enter US Illegally
NEW DELHI, Oct 30: The United States has repatriated 1,100 Indians over the past year for trying to enter the U.S. illegally, a senior official from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said on Wednesday.
Briefing journalists, Royce Murray, assistant secretary for Border and Immigration Policy at the DHS, said she travelled to India last week to witness the flights that flew back the illegal immigrants to India. The official added that there had been a “steady increase” in the number of Indians in recent years who have been repatriated from the United States.
The official pointed out the U.S.-Mexico and US-Canada borders as the two areas that were being chosen by Indian nationals to enter the US illegally. People with visas who have overstayed in the United States are also liable to be repatriated, said the official. She also specified that the deportations were not related to the recent controversy over the allegation against a Government of India official for reportedly hiring a professional hitman to assassinate a pro-Khalistan figure.
Ms Murray described the Government of India as an “important partner” and cautioned against human smuggling organisations that try to send Indians to the U.S. and reminded that illegally crossing the U.S. borders may lead to deportation and a “minimum five-year bar on re-entry to the United States.” She also reminded that “recidivists” or those who attempt multiple attempts to enter the US illegally will face criminal prosecution. Ms Murray also revealed that “India has certainly been” the “top country of migration to the United States” from South Asia.
“Let me start by saying that in fiscal year 2024, which just concluded at the end of September, the United States repatriated over 1,100 Indian nationals. That has been part of a steady increase in removals from the United States of Indian nationals over the past few years,” said Ms Murray in her remarks at the briefing.
The remarks from the official came days after the DHS flew a “large-frame charter removal flight” on October 22 to repatriate Indian nationals “who did not establish legal basis to remain in the United States.” That move was aimed at reducing and deterring “irregular migration” to the U.S., the Department of Homeland Security had said.
Ms Royce said the flight was part of the DHS’s initiative to “enforce U.S. immigration laws.” She reiterated that there would be “tough consequences” for those who try to enter the U.S. unlawfully, adding, “This includes swiftly returning those without a legal basis to remain in the United States while encouraging the use of lawful pathways.”
Ms Murray further confirmed that the special flight that repatriated Indian nationals on October 22, 2024, landed in Punjab though she could not provide specific details about the states that supply most of the US-bound illegal immigrants from India.
(Manas Dasgupta)
