Chandigarh: A US military aircraft carrying 116 illegal Indian immigrants landed at Amritsar airport late on Saturday night, with the men among the deportees claiming they were in shackles during the journey and Sikh youths were allegedly without turbans.
The C-17 aircraft, which landed at the airport around 11.35 pm on Saturday, was the second batch of Indians to be deported by the Donald Trump administration as part of its crackdown on illegal immigrants.
Of these 115 deportees, 65 are from Punjab, 33 from Haryana, eight from Gujarat, two each from Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, and one each from Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. They were provided food upon reaching Amritsar, much to their reprieve after the exhausting journey.
According to sources, most of the deportees in the second batch were aged between 18 and 30.
A third plane carrying 112 deportees, that include people from Punjab, Haryana and Gujarat, is expected to land at Amritsar airport late on Sunday night, official sources said.
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) Sunday strongly condemned the US authorities for allegedly not allowing Sikh deportees, who were part of the second batch of illegal Indian immigrants, to wear turbans.
The statement came after some video clips on social media showed Sikh deportees without turbans completing their immigration formalities at the Amritsar airport.
SGPC officials, who were deputed for providing ‘langar’ and bus service for deportees at the Amritsar airport, gave ‘dastar’ (turban) to the Sikh deportees.
Among the second batch of deportees, those hailing from Punjab were taken to their homes in police vehicles around 4.30 am on Sunday after immigration and background checks.
However, two deportees belonging to Rajpura in Patiala district were arrested upon their landing in Amritsar in connection with a murder case. Sandeep Singh alias Sunny and Pradeep Singh were wanted in a murder case registered in Rajpura in 2023.
The second batch of deportees had tales of toil, journey through dangerous and illegal pathways in pursuit of the American dream and its ultimate shattering to share. Many claimed that they were duped by travel agents.
Daljit Singh left his native Kurala Kalan village in Punjab for the US last year in a desperate bid to provide a better future for his family.
After being deported, he said, “Our legs were chained and hands cuffed throughout the journey. There were three women and three children on board who were not cuffed.” He told reporters that the shackles were removed before the aircraft landed in Amritsar.
Daljit said he was taken to the US through a ‘dunki’ route — an illegal and risky pathway used by migrants to enter the US.
His experience highlights the grim reality of illegal migration through such routes as many fall prey to fraudulent travel agents and endure unimaginable hardships in pursuit of a better life.
Sourav (20), who reached Chandiwala village in Punjab’s Ferozepur district on Sunday, told reporters that they were shackled en route to Amritsar. “We were handcuffed and our legs were chained,” he said.
Harjit Singh, who hails from Khanowal Ghuman village in Gurdaspur district, was deported from the US along with his cousin. “We were caught while crossing the US border on January 27 and kept at a detention centre for 18 days. We were deported on February 13, handcuffed and our legs chained,” he said.
Saddled with mountainous debt, most of the family members of the second batch of deportees now stare at a bleak future as they had mortgaged their farmland and cattle to facilitate the journey abroad.
Punjab NRI Affairs Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal and Power Minister Harbhajan Singh met some of the deportees at the airport on Saturday night and said the state government stood by them like a rock.
About the shackling of deportees, Dhaliwal, in a post on X, said, “You will be very sad to know that throughout the entire journey, once again the American soldiers had tied the hands and feet of our Indian immigrants. Despite opposition to earlier cuffing, the Indians were treated inhumanly”.
One of the deportees told Dhaliwal that he and his cousin spent Rs 40 lakh each to reach the US. Both belong to a village near Kalanaur in Punjab’s Gurdaspur district.
Dhaliwal said the government will send the travel agents who duped the youths behind bars and urged the deportees to come forward and lodge their complaints.
On February 5, a US military aircraft carrying 104 illegal Indian immigrants landed at the Amritsar airport. Of them, 33 each were from Haryana and Gujarat, and 30 from Punjab.
Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has been attacking the Centre over the landing of US planes carrying deportees at Amritsar airport. “Do not make our holy city a deport centre,” he had said.
