The Centre today announced that they have been told by US authorities that there are 487 presumed Indian citizens with "final removal orders". This announcement comes in the backdrop of a political row over 104 Indian migrants who were sent back to India, chained and shackled, on a C-17 US military aircraft on Wednesday.
"We've been told there are 487 presumed Indian citizens with final removal orders," Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said.
A US military aircraft carrying the migrants landed in Amritsar, marking the first mass deportation under President Donald Trump's administration. The deportees, who had attempted to enter the United States through illegal channels, were piled up in an aircraft and were reportedly shackled and restrained throughout the flight, only to be freed upon arrival in India.
"Their legal position and status insofar as the US justice system is concerned, we have some information on the number of immigrants concerned. We are working with such numbers made available to us," Mr Misri said.
On the US using military aircraft to deport Indians, the Foreign Secretary said: "This particular deportation is somewhat different compared to earlier flights. In the US system itself, it was described as a national security operation."
Centre vs Opposition Over Deportation
The deportation, and the manner in which it was carried out, became a political flashpoint with the Opposition asking why the Centre did not intervene to bring them back on its terms.
The Centre defended its position, citing international obligations, but Opposition leaders pointed out that the Indian government had previously arranged special flights to evacuate its citizens from crisis zones.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, speaking in the Rajya Sabha yesterday, defended the government's stance, arguing that every country has an obligation to take back its nationals if they are found to be living illegally abroad. He also said that the deportations were carried out by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) under standard procedures in place since 2012.
"The deportation by the US is organised and executed by ICE authorities. Their standard operating procedure provides for the use of restraints, but we have been informed that women and children are not restrained," Mr Jaishankar said.
He added that the government was engaging with US authorities to ensure that deportees were not mistreated.
"It is in our collective interest to encourage legal mobility and discourage illegal movement," he said.
New Law For Migrants
The Centre is "seriously considering" enacting a new law to establish a framework which will promote "safe, orderly and regular migration for overseas employment".
The tentatively titled 'Overseas Mobility (Facilitation and Welfare) Bill, 2024' emerged from a report presented in Lok Sabha by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs, headed by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, on Monday.
US Response
The United States defended its decision to send the migrants on a C-17 military aircraft.
The US Embassy in India said that "enforcing our nation's immigration laws is critically important to the national security and public safety of the United States."
"I cannot go into further detail on the flight. I can share that enforcing our nation's immigration laws is critically important to the national security and public safety of the United States. It is the policy of the United States to faithfully execute the immigration laws against all inadmissible and removable aliens," a US Embassy spokesperson said.
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