US Deports Indian Migrants on Military Planes Amid Crackdown on Illegal Immigration

US Deports 205 Indian Migrants on Military Aircraft Amid Trump’s Crackdown on Illegal Immigration

In a fresh step in conformity with President Donald Trump’s extreme immigration policies, the United States has started moving illegal Indian immigrants on military flights. This follows the administration that promised to deal sternly in immigration law enforcements and forcing out undocumented foreigners.

A C-17 United States Air Force aircraft carrying 205 Indian nationals took off this morning from around 3 A.M. at San Antonio in Texas, quoted a Reuters news report. It marks the first big removal of Indian illegal immigrants since Trump came back to the presidency. “The United States is vigorously enforcing its border, tightening immigration laws, and removing illegal migrants,” the US embassy spokesperson in Delhi repeated. “These actions send a clear message: illegal migration is not worth the risk.

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One deportation effort is huge and part of a larger package deal by Donald Trump to combat the estimated presence of 11 million illegal immigrants in the country. During this last year alone, about 1,100 Indian nationals had been deported aboard special deportation flights. With roughly 20,000 illegal Indian immigrants already queued up for the removal process, along with some 725,000 undocumented Indians residing in America, more may follow.

India has stated that it accepts citizens after proper verification. The ministry of external affairs, under Minister S. Jaishankar, passed on this message to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently. Illegal immigration, Jaishankar said, is associated with unlawful activities and does not benefit India’s reputation abroad. He said, “If any of our citizens are found to be in the US illegally, and we verify their citizenship, we are open to their lawful return to India.” Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also assured Trump that India will cooperate in taking back its undocumented nationals.

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The Trump administration has been increasingly involving the military in immigration enforcement efforts. In addition to sending more troops to the US-Mexico border and basing migrants in military facilities, the Pentagon has made arrangements for deportation flights for detained migrants. The US military has conducted deportation flights to Guatemala, Peru, and Honduras in the past. Military aircraft are now being used to forcibly expel more than 5,000 migrants from detention centers in El Paso, Texas, and San Diego, California.

But this involves a hefty bill. Sources estimate that it will cost at least $4,675 for one migrant who traveled on the last military flight back to Guatemala-which is thrice what US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE, is charged for an airline flight. Regardless of that high cost, President Trump seems ready to use everything in his toolbox to suppress illegal immigration and crack down on aggressive enforcement and deportations.

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