Arrested for illegally entering US , 161 Indians being deported on May 19

AMRITSAR: First batch of 161 illegal Indian migrants out of a total of 1793 held by US government in various prisons would arrive Amritsar on May 19.

While talking to TOI on Sunday, executive director of

North American Punjabi Association

(NAPA) Satnam Singh Chahal informed that out of 161 deportees 132 Indian were from Punjab and Haryana. US government had detained 1793 illegal Indian migrants who were lodged in 95 different US jails for illegally crossing the US border added he.

Notably , India had begun Vande Bharat Mission on April 7 to bring back the stranded Indians from other countries , along with, highly placed sources, informed TOI that in wake of coronavirus pandemic, US as well as other countries had begun deporting illegal Indian migrants back to India and a couple of flights from Gulf countries bringing back illegal Indian migrants had already landed in the country. US president Donald Trump had also warned to impose visa restrictions if India didn’t take back the illegal migrants, alleged sources.

According to a list accessed by TOI , the 161 Indian national being deported from USA included 76 and 56 respectively from Haryana and Punjab , 12, 5 and 4 from Gujrat, Uttar Pradesh and while 2 each from Kerala, Telangana and

Tamilnadu

and 1 each from Andhra Pradesh and Goa.

Sources here informed that upon landing at Amritsar’s Sri Guru Ram Das international airport all the deportees would be sent to their native districts for quarantine.

Chahal informed that a large number of Illegal Indian migrant were languishing in six US jails with 171 in LaSalle Correction CTR Center, 164 in Adams County Detention Center, 140 in Imperial Regional Adult Detention Facility, 96 in Jackson Parish Correctional Center and 86 in

Richwood Correctional

Center while rest of them were lodged in other jails.

Although there is no data made public about which states of India these Indian migrants belong but it is said that most of them are from Northern India who illegally tried to cross the US border, many from Maxico, to seek asylum in US.
“Most of the detainees at the federal facilities are asking for asylum claiming that they experienced violence or persecution in their home country” said Chahal.