Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday said US President Donald Trump deporting illegal Indian immigrants is "not the first" deportation and that it "won't be the last".
A US military aircraft carrying about 200 Indian nationals, who had illegally entered the US, is likely to land at the Amritsar airport on Wednesday afternoon.
"Two or three things have been forgotten by the public. This is not the first deportation and won't be the last. Even before Trump came, during the Biden administration in the last fiscal year which ended in September, there were already 1,100 illegal Indians sent back from America. The Americans estimate that 7,25,000 undocumented Indians are eligible for deportation. In the last four years, they have arrested around two lakh Indians from Mexico and Canada borders," he told the news agency ANI outside the Parliament.
"If they are citizens of India we have an obligation to take them back, there is no debate about it. We have to take them back," he added.
#WATCH | Delhi: On US deporting Indian migrants, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor says, " This is not the first deportation and won't be the last, even before Trump came, during Biden regime...there were already 1100 Indians sent back from America...the Americans estimate that 7,25,000… pic.twitter.com/ha2BiAl53A
— ANI (@ANI) February 4, 2025
He said if they want to go to America legally, they are free to go with a visa, or for a job or as a tourist or to study.
"But when you stay without documentation or a work permit, you are subject to the laws of that country," the Congress MP said.
"If tomorrow Union Home Minister Amit Shah catches a Bangladeshi migrant working in India illegally, won't he deport him," Mr Tharoor said.
Trump Discusses Immigrants Issue With PM Modi
Donald Trump last month said he had a "productive" phone call with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during which the latter assured the US President that India "will do what's right" when it comes to taking back illegal Indian immigrants.
According to a report, India and the US have identified 18,000-odd Indian migrants who entered the US illegally.
The Ministry of External Affairs has said India is against illegal immigration because it is linked to several forms of organised crime.
"For Indians not just in the United States, but anywhere in the world, if they are Indian nationals and they are overstaying, or they are in a particular country without proper documentation, we will take them back, provided documents are shared with us so that we can verify their nationality and that they are indeed Indians. If that happens to be the case, we will take things forward and facilitate their return to India," ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at a press briefing recently.
A spokesperson for the American Embassy in New Delhi said the US 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,'' the spokesperson said.
The deportation comes ahead of PM Modi's expected visit to the US later this month. This would be his first trip to the US after Trump's historic comeback to the White House.
Trump's Hardline Stand Against Illegal Immigrants
The deportation of illegal migrants is in line with Donald Trump's hardline stand against illegal immigrants in the US.
"For the first time in history, we are locating and loading illegal aliens into military aircraft and flying them back to the places from which they came," Trump had told reporters last month.
Earlier, US military aircraft flew illegal immigrants deported to Guatemala, Peru and Honduras.
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