New Delhi: The dreams of 104 Indians caught in pursuit of the American Dream were dashed when they were repatriated to their homeland, after long perilous journey through sea, mountains, and borderline zones. The deportations were a direct consequence of US President Donald Trump’s hardline stance on illegal immigration, which has severely impacted those attempting to enter the country through unofficial channels.
Harvhinder Singh” a man from Punjab’s Tahli village, the one of the deportees, told a moving story of the suffering he has experienced. Singh had provided the travel agent Rs 42 lakh, toying with the possibility of a US work visa. Despite that, at the very last moment, Singh was told that his visa had not been approved. Instead, he was sent on a series of flights—first from Delhi to Qatar, then to Brazil, and eventually on a dangerous journey through South America.
On arrival in Brazil I was informed I would be put on a flight from Peru, but there was no flight. We were driven from taxis to Colombia and to Panama, where we started to traverse rugged terrain,” Singh said. All of this resulted in a long, demanding, 2-day hike before being put on a small boat to travel across the ocean to the Mexico border. Tragically, the boat capsized during the four-hour journey, resulting in the death of one of the passengers. Another migrant died in the jungles of Panama. [N S] During the journey, they survived on meager food of rice.
Sukhpal Singh, another former deportee of Darapur village, told an analogous story of the dangerous journey. He recounted a sea route of 15 hours up to a perilous 40-45 km trek in mountainous country with valleys, some with steep slopes. “If someone got injured, they were left to die. We saw many dead bodies along the way,” he recalled. Unfortunately, Sukhpal was apprehended just before crossing the US-Mexico border and spent 14 days in a dark cell in Mexico, with no access to sunlight. He highlighted the plight of many and many more migrants, particularly young Punjabi men and families, who are stranded in the same circumstances.
Thursday, a US military aircraft carrying 104 deported Indian citizens landed in Amritsar, which signified the first de-migration of a large scale under Trump’s administration. The deportees hailed from various states, including Haryana, Gujarat, Punjab, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and Chandigarh. Those who returned included 19 women and 13 minors, which included a 4-year-old, a 5-year-old girl, and a 7-year-old girl.
One deportee, Jaspal Singh, shared the degrading conditions of his journey, stating that they were kept in handcuffs and shackles throughout the flight, only being unshackled once they arrived at the Amritsar airport. Jaspal, having paid an amount of Rs 30 lakh to a travel agent for what he thought would be a legal entry into the US, was apprehended by US Border Patrol, after being staying in Brazil for 6 months.
Kanubhai Patel, whose daughter was among those deported, expressed his bewilderment at the situation. “She went to Europe on vacation with friends a month ago, and we lost contact with her after January 14. We have no idea how she ended up in the US,” Patel, a resident of Mehsana district in Gujarat, said.
The return of these migrants has left families in distress, as many took out significant loans or sold their assets to finance the journey. According to the wife, Kuljinder Kaur, “We took whatever small amounts we had and borrowed on exorbitant interest rates from the agent to clear the agent’s dues, hoping it would be better for the future. But now, not only has my husband been deported, we are left with a huge debt.”.
Other families, like that of Gurpreet Singh in Kapurthala and Jaswinder Singh in Fatehgarh Sahib, had also mortgaged their homes or borrowed large sums of money to send their loved ones abroad. Now, they are left with crushing financial burdens and a sense of betrayal by the agents who promised them a better future.
Given recent deportations, there has been an outcry and a demand for greater action against the people who organised and carried these illegal journeys. Families are pleading for responsibility, that no one else becomes another victim to the false hope of a better life overseas.
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