Deportation of Indians from US: Did India Pursue it Beforehand?

Recently, when Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu visited the USA, he, along with US President Donald Trump, addressed the media, where Trump announced his plans regarding Gaza. On the same occasion, Trump said something that should be read cautiously. He said: “Here in America, we've begun the process of deporting foreign terrorists, jihadists, and Hamas sympathizers from our soil just as we have people that are extremely evil. And we're sending them out of our country. They came from jails. They came from mental institutions and insane asylums. And they were dumped into our country. They're gang members. And we're getting them out at numbers that nobody can actually believe. And every single country is taking those people back. They said they would never take them back. And they're all taking them back. And they're taking them back very gladly.”

Are the Indian Deportees Hardened Criminals?

Now, we come to the US military plane that carried 104 (reportedly) Indians deemed illegal immigrants by the USA. This has also led to a fierce debate in Parliament, with the opposition staging protests about the way the government handled the matter. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar stated that India is pursuing the matter with the US government to ensure that no mistreatment occurs to Indians.

After the US military flight landed in Amritsar, there were growing concerns about how the Indian deportees were treated—with handcuffs and chains. Is this heartbreaking picture and the narratives of the deportees confirming the treatment as a manifestation of Trump’s attitude? Well, there is ample space to think that way if we read Trump’s statement that we’ve mentioned earlier. There is ample space to think that, for US authorities, these Indian deportees were treated like hardened criminals or terrorists.

In reality, many of the deportees were actually victims. They fell prey to nasty traffickers who looted money from them to give them a chance to chase their dreams by landing in the USA. Their testimonies also revealed how arduous their path had been after they left India. Many had to pass through several other countries and a dangerous path through the Amazon forest, risking their lives, enduring inhuman torture, and finally, when they reached the USA, they were completely bankrupt, possessing only the pair of clothes they wore.

It needs to be mentioned that it is unlikely that all of the illegal Indian immigrants in US were trapped in the trafficking network. There may be cases where some deliberately resorted to illegal means to enter USA. It is also absolutely true that USA has all the rights to deport them.

India At the Receiving End?

But the question now lies on India’s table—could it not manage to take back those Indians who were identified as illegally staying in the USA by its own?

International norms exist to handle illegals in any country. Once an illegal is detected in any country, the authorities look for documents to determine their nationality. Once the nationality is known, the embassy of the country is contacted. Suppose an Indian national is detected as an illegal migrant in the USA; in that case, the US authorities would contact the Indian embassy to verify their nationality. Once the embassy verifies the nationality, the person found illegally staying in the USA can be sent back to India.

As common citizens, we don’t have any knowledge about how far all the norms were followed. But as Indians, this concerns many of us. We still don’t have any details regarding this from the Ministry of External Affairs. There are also other aspects to ponder. First, didn’t India know that many of those ‘illegals’ identified by the USA were victims of the human trafficking network? Mr. Jaishankar has stated today that the government will take stunning action against such traffickers. But was the government in the dark when all this was happening? These are deep questions that naturally emerge today.

Second, had the government known about these people, why didn’t it pursue the matter with the US and arrange for their deportation? At least the dignity of the Indians who were real victims would have been maintained.

Finally, when the USA identified the Indians staying there illegally, what was India’s diplomatic position at that point? We don’t know. All we know is Mr. Jaishankar’s statement that the Indian immigrants will be taken back. Taking them back is absolutely fine, but it remains ambiguous whether India communicated with the US to bring them back on its own without any mistreatment.