U.S. repatriated 1,100 Indians in 2023-24 for trying to enter illegally

The United States repatriated 1,100 Indians for illegal entry, with a steady increase in recent years, DHS official confirms.

The United States has repatriated 1,100 Indians over the past year for trying to enter the U.S. illegally, said a senior official from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The official added there has been a “steady increase” in the number of Indians in recent years who have been repatriated from the United States.

Briefing journalists on Tuesday (October 29, 2024) Royce Murray, assistant secretary for Border and Immigration Policy at the DHS, said she travelled to India last week to witness the flight that flew illegal immigrants back to India.

“Let me start by saying that in fiscal year 2024, which just concluded at the end of September, the United States repatriated over 1,100 Indian nationals. That has been part of a steady increase in removals from the United States of Indian nationals over the past few years,” said Ms. Murray in her remarks at the briefing.

The remarks from the official came days after the DHS flew a “large-frame charter removal flight” on October 22 to repatriate Indian nationals “who did not establish legal basis to remain in the United States.” That move was aimed at reducing and deterring “irregular migration” to the U.S., the Department of Homeland Security had said.

Ms. Royce said the flight was part of the DHS’s initiative to “enforce U.S. immigration laws”. She reiterated that there would be “tough consequences” for those who try to enter the U.S. unlawfully, adding, “This includes swiftly returning those without a legal basis to remain in the United States while encouraging the use of lawful pathways.”

Ms. Murray further confirmed that the special flight that repatriated Indian nationals on October 22, 2024, landed in Punjab though she could not provide specific details about the states that supply most of the US-bound illegal immigrants from India.

The American official pointed out the U.S.-Mexico and US-Canada borders as the two areas that are being chosen by Indian nationals to enter the US illegally. People with visas who have overstayed in the United States are also liable to be repatriated, said the official. She also specified that the deportations were not related to the recent controversy over the allegation against a Government of India official for reportedly hiring a professional hitman to assassinate a pro-Khalistan figure.