200 Indians deported from US will land at Amritsar airport today

New Delhi: A US military plane is at present en route to India, carrying a batch of 200 illegal migrants who are being deported. The plane is scheduled to land at Amritsar around 9 am on Wednesday, according to a report in the Tribune.

Most of those being deported are from Punjab or neighbouring states. This is the first such deportation in Donald Trump's second tenure as US President. He took over on January 20.The US is using a C-17 Globemaster military plane, which is expected to refuel at Ramstein air base in Germany during its journey before landing at Amritsar.

It is for the first time that the US is using a military plane to deport illegal migrants to India. In the past, all deportations to India have been on board commercial planes. The C-17 uses jet engines like regular commercial planes; has a toilet on board and seats are configured for movement of US troops. The Indian Air Force uses the same plane. A US Embassy spokesperson in New Delhi said, “United States 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.”

In November 2024, the US has shared a list of 18,000 illegal migrants who need to be deported to India.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has already made it clear that India does not bat for illegal migration. In January, when Jaishankar visited the US for Trump’s swearing-in ceremony, he had said that India supports legal mobility because it believes in a global workplace.

“We want Indian talent and Indian skills to have the maximum opportunity at the global level.

“We are very firmly opposed to illegal mobility and illegal migration,” Jaishankar had said.

The EAM had conveyed the stance to US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio.

Those being deported on Tuesday have been verified by India of being its nationals.

US President Trump has increasingly turned to the military to help carry out his immigration agenda, including using military aircraft to deport migrants and opening military bases to house them.

The Pentagon has also started providing flights to deport more than 5,000 immigrants held by US authorities in El Paso, Texas, and San Diego, California.

So far, the military aircraft have flown migrants to Guatemala, Peru and Honduras, all within a couple of hours flying distance from US.