Harpreet Laliya, also known as Roshan, from Nagpur, dreamt of earning Rs 4 lakh a month as a taxi driver in Canada. To chase this dream, he sold his family’s gold and two trucks and gave up his debt-free life, investing Rs 50 lakh to reach the US-Mexico border, believing it to be the gateway to a brighter future.
Sixty-two days later, his dream turned into a nightmare. Roshan had to face extreme hardships, walking for hours without food through forests and hilly terrains. He witnessed the death of a fellow migrant who was shot by human traffickers because he didn't have money to pay them.
His journey ended with him being deported back to India in handcuffs on a US military aircraft on Wednesday.
After landing in Amritsar with 103 other deported migrants, the 33-year-old father of two flew back to Nagpur on Thursday, as per a Times of India report.
Roshan said that he first contacted an immigration agent in his mother’s village in Gurdaspur, hoping to migrate to Canada. The agent charged Rs 18 lakh, claiming it would secure a tourist visa that could be converted into a work permit upon arrival.
On December 5, Roshan flew to Abu Dhabi, from where he was supposed to catch a flight to Montreal. However, Etihad Airways officials informed him that he would be sent back to Delhi as per instructions from the Indian embassy. The agent warned him against contacting the embassy, threatening that he would lose his immigration fee if he did.
A week later, Roshan was given a ticket to Cairo via Mumbai. From Egypt, he travelled to Madrid and was told to stay hidden for a few days. On December 26, he flew to Guatemala, then to Nicaragua, where agents instructed him to bribe local police with dollars hidden in his passport.
Throughout his journey, Roshan was passed from one group of middlemen to another. In Honduras, he paid the human traffickers $1,400 (around Rs 1.2 lakh) for documents to cross into the US. His Mexican agent also paid a similar amount to get his documents released.
After reaching Tapachula in Mexico, Roshan and other migrants crossed a river by boat. They were shocked to see the local mafia working closely with Mexican police. From there, they travelled to Mexico City in covered vans and were left in a warehouse under the control of the mafia.
The group had to walk for hours through forests and hills to reach the US-Mexico border, which had a barbed-wire fence. After crossing the border, they trekked for another 16 hours into US territory. They were eventually arrested by US border forces on January 22 and taken to a prison in San Diego.
“We were handcuffed and treated like criminals for four days. For 12 days, we survived on just chips, apples, and juice,” Roshan recalled.
A US military aircraft carrying 104 deported Indians landed at Amritsar’s Shri Guru Ramdas Ji International Airport on Wednesday.
Many of the deportees had spent between Rs 30 lakh and Rs 50 lakh to reach the US through illegal routes. Some had arrived in the US just months ago and were yet to apply for asylum before being detained and deported.
Their hands and legs were reportedly shackled throughout the journey, with the restraints removed only after landing.
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