Trump deports illegal Indian migrants on military aircraft, first such action since his return to office

Indian illegal migrants have been deported to India in a US military plane, marking the first deportation to the country since President Donald Trump’s return to office, according to a media report.

Speaking to Reuters, a US official said the C-17 aircraft departed with illegal migrants to India which would not arrive for at least 24 hours.

According to a CNBC report which cited officials, as many as 200 illegal migrants were on the C-17 military aircraft flying to India.

Earlier, deportation flights carried illegal migrants to Guatemala, Peru and Honduras. The report added that since the return of the Trump administration, India is the farthest destination the flights will travel to.

Trump, in his second term, has intensified efforts to reduce both legal and illegal immigration to the United States which includes shutting down the asylum system at the southern border, stopping flights for previously approved refugees and attempting to end birthright citizenship.

In his inauguration speech, President Trump discussed his plans for America’s future, including a crackdown on immigration and efforts to boost the economy.

During his conversation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Trump raised concerns about illegal immigration by Indians into the US.

He also noted said India will do ‘what is right’ when it comes to taking back “illegal immigrants”.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio also had a conversation with EAM S Jaishankar where he raised the issue of what the State Department termed as “irregular immigration.”

India's External Affairs Minister affirmed that New Delhi “strongly opposed” illegal immigration to the US.

The two leaders had a ‘productive call' and discussed how to ‘expand and deepen’ cooperation between the two countries.

“Many other illegal activities get joined to it. It is not desirable, and it is not reputationally good. If there are any of our citizens who are not here legally and we are sure they are our citizens, we have been open to their legitimate return to India,” Jaishankar had said.

Jaishankar described the deportations as part of a “regular consular dialogue and arrangement” with the US.

MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated that India continues to engage in ongoing discussions and necessary arrangements regarding immigration and mobility between the two countries.

At least 20,407 undocumented Indians may be on the radar of the Trump administration, including 17,940 facing final removal orders and 2,467 currently detained under the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO).

A Pew Research Center data showed that a total of 7,25,000 Indians made up the third-largest "unauthorized immigrant" population in the US in 2022.