Jaspal Singh, one of the 104 Indian deportees who landed in Amritsar on Wednesday aboard a US military aircraft, described a journey back home that was distressing. Singh, a 36-year-old from Hardorwal village in Gurdaspur, claimed that the deportees' hands and legs were cuffed throughout the flight and were only unshackled after landing at the Amritsar airport.

Singh was detained by US Border Patrol on January 24 after crossing into the country illegally. “We thought we were being taken to another camp. Then a police officer told us that we were being sent to India,” he recounted.

First mass deportation under the Trump administration

The plane carrying the deportees was the first major deportation of Indian illegal immigrants under the administration of President Donald Trump, who has expanded crackdowns on undocumented migrants. Of the 104 people aboard, sources show that 33 were from Haryana and Gujarat, 30 from Punjab, three each from Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, and two from Chandigarh. Among them were 19 women and 13 minors, including a four-year-old boy and two girls, aged five and seven.

The police from the state of Punjab, with some assistance from their intelligence, quizzed anyone on entry to detect previous convictions and return all clean records straight home while those on their radar could not proceed yet.

Price to pay for irregular migration

Jaspal Singh said his journey had started off promisingly - all for the legal visa that had cost him Rs 30 lakh to the agent. He ended up traveling all the way by air from there to Brazil last July. It was not long before a really demanding land journey had begun for Singh. "I had requested the agent to get me on a proper visa. But he misled me," he regretted.

Singh had crossed the US border after spending six months in Brazil, only to be arrested and detained for 11 days before being deported. The return has left him shattered. "A huge sum was spent. The money was borrowed," he said, sharing about the financial burden illegal immigration places on families.

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Deadly routes and survival struggles

Other deportees shared similar struggles. Harwinder Singh from Tahli village in Hoshiarpur recounted how he traveled through Qatar, Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Panama, Nicaragua, and Mexico before reaching the US. 

"We crossed hills. A boat, which was taking us across, almost capsized, but we survived," he said. He recalled seeing one person die in Panama's dense jungle and another drown in the sea.

Another deportee, who did not wish to be named, shared the dangers of the 'donkey route' that many migrants take to the US. 

"We crossed 17-18 hills. If one slipped, there was no chance of survival. We saw dead bodies," he said. 

Many migrants went without food, surviving on biscuits and rice infrequently. He also narrated how their clothes worth Rs 30,000-35,000 were stolen on the way.

Tighter immigration policies 

The mass deportation occurred just days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s scheduled visit to Washington for discussions with President Trump. The US administration’s strict immigration policies have heightened concerns among Indian migrants, particularly those who risk their lives to enter the country illegally.

When the deportees come back to their country, shattered dreams and economic burdens continue to haunt families. 

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