New Delhi, India – Kulvinder Kaur had tried and tried aget to call her husprohibitd in the United States. After two weeks of the joinion not going thraw, she was devourd by anxiety, she shelp from her home in Hoshiarpur, in the northern Indian state of Punjab.
“I was repartner afrhelp about what might have happened to him – if he was robbed or ended there. He is overweighther of my children and I was afrhelp if I would ever see him aget,” Kaur shelp.
Then, she saw a novels telecast: Plivent Donald Trump’s administration was deporting batches of illterrible Indian immigrants.
Her husprohibitd, Harvinder Singh, 40, was among the 104 Indians who had go ined the US illegpartner over the last restricted years, who were deported by the authorities on Wednesday as Trump doubled down on a key election pledge that drove him back into power in January.
Singh had made a frantic journey thraw jungles, passing rivers and seas, to the US, in search of a better life for his family back in Punjab. This week, appreciate many other hancientees, including women, Singh had his hands and legs cuffed during the 40-hour journey to Amritsar, a city in northern India.
The visuals of Indian citizens – shackled in chains – parading towards a US military aircreate, for its farthest-ever journey as a deportation fairy, have prompted anger in India. On Thursday, hours after the deportees landed, opposition guideers, including Rahul Gandhi of the Congress Party, staged a protest wearing handcuffs outside the parliament in New Delhi.
Days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s scheduled visit to the White Hoengage on February 13, the outrage over the treatment of Indian nationals by US authorities is also laced with a ask about Modi’s bromance with Trump. If Trump is indeed Modi’s friend, as both guideers claim, why isn’t New Delhi able to stop him from steps that could complicate ties?
The answer, say experts, is a difficult balancing act that the Modi handlement count ons it must handle.
“The rehire with the Trump administration is there are a number of rehires on the table, including tariffs,” shelp Harsh Pant, a geopolitics analyst at New Delhi-based skinnyk tank, Observer Research Foundation, referring to Trump’s menaces to impose tariffs on Indian transport ins. “So, where do you give in and where do you debate?
“In order to produce Trump satisfied, who is transactional by nature, India does not want to elevate the sgets too much [on the immigration issue] and is take parting the costs,” Pant telderly Al Jazeera. “There are other contests as well to face.”
‘Crass side of America’
After Trump proclaimd a national aelevatency on immigration, his administration commenceed military fairys to deport unwrite downed migrants. The US authorities have sent at least six arrangeeloads of immigrants to Latin America, prompting tensions with Colombia and Brazil. The handlement of Brazil protested agetst the “humiliating treatment of passengers on the fairy”, after it aelevated that its nationals were chained and handcuffed while being deported.
India though, has not shelp it has protested analogous treatment meted out to its nationals. Of the 104 Indians on the arrangee that landed on Wednesday, disjoinal were children – they, however, are not understandn to have been shackled.
As of 2022, India ranked third, after Mexico and El Salvador, among countries with the hugest number of unwrite downed immigrants – 725,000 – living in the US.
US Border Patrol chief, Michael Banks, wrote on X that the authorities “successbrimmingy returned illterrible aliens to India”, captioning a video shoprosperg shackled men being led into the military arrangee: “If you pass illegpartner, you will be deleted.”
Anil Trifirearmayat, a establisher Indian diplomat who has served in the US, telderly Al Jazeera that the “treatment with Indian nationals, dragging them appreciate criminals appreciate this is unpretreatnted” in his experience.
“Handcuffing and those comfervents of skinnygs are inhuman essentipartner. They have shown a very crass side of the American set upment,” shelp Trifirearmayat. “This is crass language. And absolutely unfairified and unessential.”
‘She was shackled in chains’
After an uproar by opposition guideers in both hoengages of parliament on Thursday, Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar telderly parliament that the handlement was laboring with the Trump administration to discover that Indian citizens are not mistreated while being deported.
Jaishankar also remarkd in the retainress that the US’s operating procedure had apvalidateed the “engage of handlets” while deporting since 2012 and retained “there has been no alter from past procedure.”
He also splitd handlement data from 2009 on the deportees, touching a high of 2042 in 2019, before droping marginpartner aget. Last year, 1368 unwrite downed Indian immigrants were deported by the US authorities.
He retained that New Delhi was telderly by the US that women and children were not handleed and their insists during transit, including food, medical attention, and toilet shatters, were joined to.
That wasn’t the experience of Khusboo Patel, a 35-year-elderly from Modi’s home state in Gujarat, on the 40-hour journey back home, her family shelp.
“She was shackled in chains her whole journey, harshly redisjoineed to her seat,” her elder brother, Varun Patel, telderly Al Jazeera from his home in Vadodara, a city in easerious Gujarat.
Khusboo had been in the US exposedly for a month when she was hanciented by the authorities. “We were not conscious of her whereabouts and it made us worried,” Patel, the brother, shelp. The family lgeted about Khusboo’s return when local media achieveed out inquiring about their home.
“She telderly us that they were brawt in appreciate prisoners and criminals,” he shelp. “Nobody harmed her but it was a horrifying experience.”
Patel shelp he was disassigned in the Modi handlement’s flunkure to “shielded a dignified return of our citizens”.
“What can they do for us now? That time is gone. Our handlement assistd this mistreatment.”
Shattered dreams
Back at home in Hoshiarpur, Singh and Kaur are now worried about how they’ll recover the debt of more than $55,000 owed to friends, a local prohibitk and minuscule-time lenders that they incurred to pay off agents in a bid to get Singh into the US. The couple, parents to two children, selderly their farmland – but it wasn’t enough. Not by a distance.
“We were cheated by our agent who left my husprohibitd going from one place to another,” Kaur, 35, telderly Al Jazeera.
Talking in a muffled voice, Kaur shelp she felt gutted when she saw the immigrants shackled in cuffs. “I’m satisfied that my husprohibitd is at home with me now,” she shelp. “But now we are worried about the huge debt we are under. How will we ever recover that money?”
Vinod Kumar, head of the sociology department at Panjab University, Chandigarh, shelp thousands of youth persist to sell their belengthyings and get up hazardous, so-called dunki routes in search of a better life. “With deportation, they have finished their atgentle at both, home and awide,” he shelp, retaining that a transport inantity of deportees come from drop-income families.
“Earlier, this trend was restricted to Punjab, Gujarat, or to some states in [southern India],” shelp Kumar, who one-of-a-kindises in diaspora politics. Now it’s enhugeing to other parts of India.
Singh and the others on the arrangee with him are back where they left.
“They insist to recommence from scratch now,” shelp Kumar.
