New Delhi: A US military aircraft is reportedly carrying deported illegal immigrants back to India, marking President Donald Trump’s first move towards deporting Indians.
Around 200 Indians are expected to be on board the aircraft. The destination is as yet unclear. Reuters reported that a C-17 aircraft had departed for India with migrants on board.
While US officials have not yet confirmed these details, US Embassy spokesperson Christopher Elms told reporters that the US is “vigorously enforcing its border, tightening immigration laws, and removing illegal migrants.”
“These actions send a clear message: illegal migration is not worth the risk,” said Elms.
The White House said Trump and Modi had a “productive call” last week, and Trump told reporters that India “will do what’s right” when it comes to taking back “illegal immigrants”.
Experts view this as an easy concession—an early signal that New Delhi is willing to comply with Washington to avoid a trade war. The White House announced Tuesday that Modi will travel to Washington to meet Trump, most likely on February 13.
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Crackdown on illegal migration
While this is not the first time the US had deported Indians, this deportation is the first since Trump returned to the White House in January 2025.
Both Trump and his new Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, raised concerns over the illegal immigration of Indians in their conversations with Prime Minister Modi and External Affairs Minister Jaishankar.
Since taking office on 20 January, Trump has announced a slew of immigration-related executive orders, paving the way to end undocumented migration to the US. The Pentagon has reportedly started providing flights to deport over 5,000 immigrants held by US authorities in El Paso, Texas, and San Diego, California.
So far, military aircrafts have flown migrants to Guatemala, Peru and Honduras. India will be the farthest destination for Trump’s military transport flights. It’s a costly way to deport migrants—a military deportation flight to Guatemala last week likely cost at least $4,675 a migrant.
Bloomberg reported that the Indian government is “set to take back 18,000 migrants to placate Trump”. According to the Pew Research Center, around 7,25,000 undocumented Indian immigrants are estimated to be in the US, as of 2024.
ThePrint had earlier reported that over 90,000 Indians had attempted to enter the US illegally between October 2023 and September 2024. Over 40,000 Indians attempted to cross the border from Canada into the US, while over 25,000 tried to cross over from Mexico. The remaining Indians likely overstayed their visas or entered the US through airports. This is the highest number of people attempting to enter the US illegally in a single year since 2021. The vast majority of these 90,000 people are adults.
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Excellent news indeed!
Every single Indian who has migrated illegally to the USA must be deported at the earliest. Trump is doing now what the US should have been doing two decades ago.
Illegal immigration is a scourge around the world and must be strictly punished. These Indians, by indulging in illegal immigration, have brought shame and dishonour on the nation. Such illegal acts must be dealt with strictly as per the law.