Government may enlist private carriers to bring back illegal migrants from US

Ministry of External Affairs.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) is in talks with Air India, American Airlines and United Airlines to repatriate Indian deportees from the US over the next three months.

The move follows concerns raised by deportees regarding alleged mistreatment by US government officials.

The MEA is in discussion with the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) department to abstain from using military aircraft after images of people in shackles repatriated on a military flight triggered a nationwide outcry, multiple officials aware of the ongoing discussions told Moneycontrol.

"The MEA has reached out to the US ICE department to indicate that they are keen to take over transportation of Indian deportees back to India and has started working with airlines to arrange special flights for the same," a senior government official told Moneycontrol.

Sources in the MEA told Moneycontrol that the government has approached  Air India, United Airlines and American Airlines seeking information on the availability of flights in the next three months to fly back Indian citizens who have been served with a final removal order by ICE.

"We have reached out to airlines to check whether they can operate special flights with US military professionals on board in March, April and May to fly back around a 1,000 Indian citizens who are in the process of being served their final removal orders," a senior MEA official said.

In the past, the two governments have used chartered or commercial flights to repatriate illegal immigrants to their country of origin.

Currently, Air India operates around 60 weekly flights to the US while American Airlines flies seven times a week and United Airlines has 14 flights a week between the two countries.

Emails sent to the MEA, ICE, Air India, United Airlines and American Airlines remained unanswered till the time of publishing.

The US government had informed New Delhi in January that around 487 "presumed Indian citizens" were served with final removal orders, while another 203 illegal migrants were rounded up in sweeps by American authorities, mostly along the border with Mexico, last month, people familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity.

Of the 203 detained recently, 104 were sent back on a C-17 military aircraft that landed in Amritsar on February 5. Another 116 Indian citizens were sent back to India on a military aircraft on February 15, again to Amritsar. A third plane with 112 Indians deported from the US, landed in Amritsar on February 16.

Earlier this month, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had said the government is engaging with the US to ensure the deportees are not mistreated. He also said the US' deportation of illegal migrants is not a new development and has been going on for years.

"We are, of course, engaging the US government to ensure that the returning deportees are not mistreated in any manner during the flight. At the same time, the House will appreciate that our focus should be on strong crackdown on the illegal migration industry, while taking steps to ease visas for the legitimate traveller. On the basis of information provided by returning deportees about the agents and others involved, law enforcement agencies will take necessary preventive and exemplary actions," Jaishankar had said in the Rajya Sabha on February 6.

Jaishankar also said that US authorities had informed them that women and children "are not restrained" on flights.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was in the US last week, said India would take back any of its citizens living illegally in the US. He, however, emphasised that the larger effort should be towards ending human trafficking.

"Our bigger fight is against that entire ecosystem, and we are confident that (US) President (Donald) Trump will fully cooperate with India in finishing this ecosystem," the PM had said last week.

18,000 in US without legal status

India and the US have identified around 18,000 Indian nationals in the US who do not have a legal status. In the 2023-24 period, the US Department of Homeland Security deported over 1,100 Indian nationals. Globally, 495 repatriation flights returned 160,000 individuals to 145 countries, including India.

The number of Indian migrants attempting to enter the US unlawfully has grown. In 2023-24, US officials recorded 90,415 attempts by Indian nationals to enter the country without authorisation, mostly via the northern border. Indians now make up around 3 percent of all unauthorised crossings, surpassing other Asian groups such as Filipinos, according to US Customs and Border Protection data.