US repatriated 1,100 Indians in 12 months
About 1,100 Indians who were staying illegally in the US were deported over the past one year, a senior official in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said on Tuesday.
Royce Bernstein Murray, Assistant Secretary for Border and Immigration Policy at the DHS, warned that all those illegally crossing Mexico or Canadian borders to enter the US would have to face similar consequences.
“In the American fiscal year 2024 that ended on September 30, the US repatriated 1,100 Indians,” said Murray during an online media briefing. The last flight, she said, carried 100 illegal immigrants to India on October 22.
The senior official said the October 22 charter flight was “de-planed in Punjab”. However, she did not mention where exactly the flight had originated from or the place of origins of the deportees.
“Large chartered flights, like the one on October 22, typically carry a 100 people… All those deported were adult men and women, and didn’t include any children… They did not have an established legal basis to remain in the US,” she said. Murray said individuals overstaying their visa could also be deported. “A person with a lawful entry but committing a serious crime can also face deportation,” she said.