The Indian government has reportedly identified 18,000 Indian nationals living illegally in the United States, with plans to repatriate them as part of efforts to address concerns under Donald Trump's administration.
According to sources cited by Bloomberg, India is cooperating with US authorities to identify undocumented Indian immigrants for deportation. This move is aimed at fostering closer collaboration with the Trump administration while safeguarding legal immigration opportunities for Indian citizens.
Many of Trump’s first executive actions in office have targeted illegal immigration into the US, including declaring a national border emergency and mobilising troops along the US-Mexico border.
Sources told Bloomberg that while 18,000 people of Indian origin living in the US illegally had been identified so far, the true number was likely far higher.
According to the Pew Research Center, there are an estimated 725,000 undocumented Indian immigrants in the US, making them the third largest group after those from Mexico and El Salvador.
The move to identify and deport Indian immigrants was described as an attempt to placate Trump just as he takes office. The Indian prime minister Narendra Modi is seen as having a close personal relationship with Trump and the pair regularly refer to each other as a “great friends”.
However, the US president has also made threats of steep trade tariffs for India as part of his America-first policy, which would be crippling for India, and the Modi government is thought to be desperate to avoid any trade conflicts.
The Indian government did not confirm the deportation figure but said they were working closely with the US to tackle the problem of illegal immigration. Randhir Jaiswal, a spokesperson for India’s ministry of external affairs, said: “As part of India-US cooperation on migration and mobility, both sides are engaged in a process to deter illegal migration. This is being done to create more avenues for legal migration from India to the US.”
Source: The Guardian
BDST: 1441 HRS, JAN 22, 2025
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