‘Didn’t know I was being deported, till I saw the plane’
This is the journey of Kurukshetra’s Robin Handa, who was among the 33 deportees belonging to Haryana and like many others who failed to realise his “American dream”.
We were handcuffed and were told that we were being shifted to another camp. There were others with me from the camp where I was detained. Confusion and anxiety gave way to shock when a large military plane came into view. Eventually the realisation dawned on us that we were being deported.
This is the journey of Kurukshetra’s Robin Handa, who was among the 33 deportees belonging to Haryana and like many others who failed to realise his “American dream”.
A native of Ismailabad village of the district on Ambala-Hisar Road, 27-year-old’s family spent nearly “ ₹42-43 lakh after selling 1-1.5 acre of farmland” with the hope that their son, who had completed a course in computers from an Industrial Training Institute, would find a better life in the US.
“The agents promised to send me to the US in just a month, it took me seven months to reach there,” Robin said.
Recalling the treacherous route that he undertook, a devastated Robin said, “On the way through (Amazon) jungles, we went days without food. Our money was also snatched away by police or members of the mafia on the route.”
Robin was first taken to Guyana, from where he travelled to Brazil, crossed over to Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, and finally reached the US border.
“We crossed the US-Mexico border on January 22 and handed ourselves over to the border police like the agent had told me to,” he said.
“We were taken to a camp and were treated like criminals. One night, a few of us were called outside, handcuffed and shackled. We were transported in a bus and lied to that we were being shifted to another camp. As we came down from the bus, we were shocked to find a large military aircraft in front of us. Our luggage and some food items were already inside, and we were made to get into the plane,” he added.
Handa admitted that he knew he was going to take the ‘donkey’ route, but was assured by the agent that it would take only a month and most of the journey would be by air.
“We were ready to walk for a few hours, as told. But what we witnessed on the way was unimaginable. I don’t have words to express…,” the deportee said.
Robin wistfully hoped that the money he spent will be returned, so that he can start his life again.