The Lok Sabha was adjourned for the day following strong opposition protests over the deportation of Indians illegally residing in the US.
Earlier, the House faced three adjournments with the final one occurring after external affairs minister S Jaishankar addressed the issue. “We are, of course, engaging with the US government to ensure that the returning deportees are not mistreated in any manner during the flight,” he reassured.
Opposition slams deportation of Indians with hands and legs cuffed
Opposition members demanded urgent discussions on the deportation of over 100 Indians citing claims that they were sent back in a military aircraft with hands and legs cuffed.
Congress leaders KC Venugopal, Gaurav Gogoi, and Manickam Tagore moved adjournment motions, calling for government intervention to prevent further dehumanization and ensure structured migration policies.
Jaishankar further said the process of deportation was not new and it had happened in the past as well.
The deportation of Indians included 33 people each from Haryana and Gujarat, 30 from Punjab, three from Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, and two from Chandigarh. Among them were 25 women and 12 minors, the youngest being just four years old. The US military C-17 aircraft, which took off from Texas on Tuesday, landed at Sri Guru Ram Dass Jee International Airport amid tight security.
The flight also carried 11 crew members and 45 US officials overseeing the deportation process. This was the first round of deportations under the Trump administration, coinciding with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s upcoming visit to Washington next week — his first after Donald Trump’s re-election as US President.
External affairs minister S Jaishankar had earlier stated that India is open to the “legitimate return” of Indian nationals living illegally abroad, including in the US. He conveyed India’s readiness to accept these migrants post-verification to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio last month.
7.25 lakh illegal Indians at risk as Trump tightens deportation policy
President Trump announced the crackdown last month, stating, “For the first time in history, we are locating and loading illegal aliens into military aircraft and flying them back to the places from which they came.”
Meanwhile, Punjab NRI affairs minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal expressed disappointment over the deportation of Indians, arguing that many of these individuals had contributed to the US economy and should have been granted permanent residency instead of being sent back. According to the Pew Research Center, approximately 7,25,000 illegal immigrants from India live in the US, making it the third-largest population of unauthorised immigrants after Mexico and El Salvador.
Many of those facing deportation from Punjab had entered the US through illegal routes, spending lakhs of rupees in the process. With Trump’s administration intensifying its crackdown on illegal immigration, uncertainty looms over the fate of thousands of Indians living without legal status in the US.
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