Around 1,100 Indian citizens living illegally in the United States will be repatriated to India through charter and commercial flights during the 2023-24 fiscal year ending September 30, a senior Department of Homeland Security (DHS) official said on Tuesday. USA. In a virtual briefing, US DHS Undersecretary for Border and Immigration Policy Royce Murray, in response to a question related to the charter flight that deported a group of Indian nationals on October 22, said that the expulsion flight included “no minors.” “, all of these men and women were adults.
The senior official said the charter flight on October 22 landed in Punjab. However, he did not say where the flight came from or the origin of these deportees. When asked about the number of people deported on October 22, he simply said that about 100 people would be evacuated largely on charter flights.
The incident comes days after officials from the United States Department of Homeland Security announced the deportation of a group of Indian citizens living illegally in that country. Responding to a question on the return of Indian citizens living illegally in the United States, Murray said around 1,100 Indian citizens have been returned in the US financial year 2023-24, which ends on September 30. The US fiscal year begins on October 1 and ends on September 30.
‘Over 145 countries including India…’
The DHS statement said that in fiscal year 2024, DHS expelled or deported more than 160,000 people and conducted more than 495 international repatriation flights to more than 145 countries, including India. The statement said DHS enforces U.S. immigration laws and establishes harsh consequences for those who enter illegally, encouraging the use of legal avenues.
Since June 2024, when the Presidential Proclamation on Border Security and accompanying interim final rules went into effect, encounters at ports of entry on the United States’ southwestern border have decreased by 55 percent.
Regarding the October 22 deportation, US DHS Undersecretary for Border Policy and Immigration Royce Murray said it was a smooth operation and received cooperation from the Indian government. On October 26, sources in New Delhi said this was a result of cooperation between India and the United States on migration and mobility. He said that as part of this cooperation, both parties are engaged in the process of “preventing illegal migration.”
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On the reasons behind such deportations, the DHS official said the first reason is that they wanted to enter the United States illegally or had no legal basis to stay in the United States, or they came legally with a visa, but overstayed. permitted. stipulated period. He said that even people who have valid residence permits have committed crimes, but in general those deported were people who sought to cross one of the borders illegally.
The US DHS Under Secretary for Border and Immigration Policy said, “We continue to strengthen our working relationship with India on a variety of issues and look forward to further strengthening the relationship.” The senior US official also said that the deportation carried out on October 22 was not linked to any other police activity.
