Punjab ministers meet illegal immigrants deported from US
What's the story
Punjab's Non-Resident Indian Affairs Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal and Power Minister Harbhajan Singh ETO on Sunday met the Indian nationals deported from the United States for illegal immigration. The deportees reached Amritsar on an aircraft carrying the second batch of Indians who had illegally migrated to America. A previous deportation flight on February 5 landed in Amritsar, bringing over 100 Indian citizens back to the country.
Harsh conditions
Deportees' treatment and political controversy
Reportedly, the deportees were treated harshly on their return journey, including being handcuffed and their feet tied with ropes. Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann slammed the central government for selecting Amritsar as the landing site for these flights, calling it an attempt to "defame Punjab." He asked why flights weren't landing in other states like Gujarat if most deportees were from there.
Bilateral cooperation
PM Modi expresses readiness to accept illegal immigrants
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said India is ready to take back its nationals residing illegally in the US. He stressed on cooperation with President Donald Trump to break human trafficking networks. "Those who stay in other countries illegally do not have any legal right to be there," Modi said, adding many illegal immigrants are misled by traffickers and called for joint efforts between India and the US to combat this issue.
Ongoing controversy
Political debate and investigation into human trafficking
The decision to land deportation flights in Amritsar has triggered a political row. Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Cheema accused the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government of targeting Punjab. Congress MLA Pargat Singh also slammed the repeated landing of deportation flights in Punjab, asking PM Modi to take up the issue of treatment of deportees with US authorities. Amid the row, the Punjab government has formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe human trafficking and illegal migration.
Deportation notice
US notifies India about removal orders for illegal immigrants
Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri confirmed that the US had notified India about "487 presumed Indian nationals" issued removal orders. The deportees allegedly attempted unauthorized entry into the US. Meanwhile, BJP Punjab chief Sunil Jakhar dismissed allegations of political bias in the deportation process, urging parties to work together on resolving illegal immigration issues rather than politicizing them.