US deports illegal Indian immigrants on chartered flight ahead of elections

WASHINGTON: The Department of Homeland Security said that the US has chartered a chartered flight to send back Indian citizens living illegally in the country. The department said that this work has been done in collaboration with the Government of India.

The department said on Friday that the charter flight was sent to India on October 22. Christie A. Canegallo, a senior official serving as Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security, said, “Indian citizens who have no legal basis to stay in the US can be deported immediately and interested migrants should not fall prey to the lies of smugglers who claim the opposite.”

The statement said that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) continues to enforce US immigration laws and imposes harsh consequences for those who enter illegally and encourages the use of legitimate routes.

There has been a 55 per cent reduction in encounters at ports of entry along the US southwest border since June 2024, when the Border Security Presidential Proclamation and the accompanying interim final rule took effect.

In fiscal year 2024, DHS removed or deported more than 160,000 individuals and conducted over 495 international repatriation flights to over 145 countries, including India, the statement said. It said the department regularly works with foreign governments throughout the hemisphere and around the world to accept the repatriation of their citizens without a legal basis to remain in the US.

It said this was one of several tools the US used to reduce irregular migration, promote the use of safe, lawful, and orderly routes, and hold transnational criminal networks accountable for smuggling and exploiting vulnerable people.

Over the past year, DHS has expelled individuals from a variety of countries around the world, including Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Egypt, Mauritania, Senegal, Uzbekistan, China, and India.