Trump cracks down on illegal immigration: How many Indians are at risk?

There has been a rise in Indian migrants attempting to enter the US illegally

For the first time since Donald Trump’s return to the White House, the United States has begun deporting illegal migrants who had entered the country unlawfully – a key promise he had made during his election campaign.

A C-17 aircraft, carrying nearly 205 Indian nationals, reportedly left San Antonio, Texas, at about 3 am on Tuesday as part of the deportation drive. The flight is set to arrive in Amritsar around 9 am on February 5.

The development comes ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s anticipated two-day visit to the US on February 12. Modi is expected to discuss trade, defence, and other key issues with US President Donald Trump, PTI reported. This will be Modi’s first visit after Trump took oath as the US President for a second time.

Following a call with PM Modi last month, the US President had stated that the Indian PM will "do what's right" regarding the repatriation of illegal Indian immigrants from America.

How many Indians will be impacted?

According to Bloomberg News, India and the US have tracked down around 18,000 Indian migrants who crossed into the US unlawfully, with the majority believed to be from Gujarat and Punjab. The figure, however, could be much higher than that.

There has been a rise in Indian migrants attempting to enter the US illegally. In 2023-24, US officials registered 90,415 unauthorised entry attempts by Indian nationals, with most occurring at the northern border, according to a Times of India report.

Moreover, data from Pew Research Center indicates that in 2022, 7,25,000 Indians formed the third-largest group of "unauthorised immigrants" in the US.

India’s stance on illegal immigrants:

India has always been open to legitimate return of undocumented Indians to their country, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said.

"With every country, and the US is no exception, we have always maintained that if any of our citizens are there illegally, and if we are sure that they are our citizens, we have always been open to their legitimate return to India," EAM Jaishankar said last month.

India stands against illegal immigration as it is associated with multiple forms of organised crime, the Ministry of External Affairs has asserted.

"For Indians not just in the United States, but anywhere in the world, if they are Indian nationals and they are overstaying, or they are in a particular country without proper documentation, we will take them back, provided documents are shared with us so that we can verify their nationality and that they are indeed Indians. If that happens to be the case, we will take things forward and facilitate their return to India," ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at a press briefing.