Sunny Deol on US deportation of Punjabi immigrants: 'What happened was wrong'

Bollywood actor Sunny Deol at Rising Bharat Summit 2025

Expressing concern over the recent deportation of Punjabi immigrants from the United States, Bollywood actor Sunny Deol on Tuesday said the issue should have been addressed with a sensitive and humanitarian approach.

“Though our people also went illegally, the officials could have treated them well. Jo hoya, changa nahi si (what happened was wrong)," Deol said.

Speaking at the News18 Rising Bharat Summit 2025, the Gadar actor remarked that the deportation process could have been handled with more respect.

“They could have been sent back in a better way. Officials could have handled this with respect,” he noted.

Catch live updates from the Summit here.

News18’s Rising Bharat Summit 2025 is being held today, April 8, to celebrate the power of India’s youth as the driving force in the journey towards a Viksit Bharat by 2047.

Deol took the stage for a session titled ‘Sunny Side Up’, where he engaged in a candid conversation with host Kishore Ajvani.

What is happening to illegal immigrants in the US?

The US has, in recent months, intensified its efforts to deport Indian nationals residing illegally within its borders, with a significant number of them hailing from Punjab.

On February 5, a US military aircraft landed in Amritsar, Punjab, carrying 104 deported Indian migrants. The deportees were primarily from Punjab, Haryana, and Gujarat and had entered the U.S. through unauthorised means over the past several years.

This was followed by multiple deportation flights, with reports indicating that over 1,100 Indians were repatriated between October 2024 and February 2025 as part of the US administration's intensified crackdown on illegal immigration.