1,076 Indians deported from the US this year, says MEA

“A total of 1,076 Indian nationals have been deported from the US to India so far this year,” external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said

Published on: Jun 5, 2026, 18:58:51 IST

By Rezaul H Laskar, New Delhi

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A total of 1,076 Indian nationals have been deported from the US so far this year, while the figure for 2025 was 3,567, the external affairs ministry said on Friday while asserting that the two sides are committed to act against illegal migration.

The US administration has increased the deportation of illegal migrants from around the world as part of a crackdown that began soon after President Donald Trump took office last year. The number of Indians deported from the US last year was the highest in the past 16 years, according to figures provided by the government in Parliament in 2025.

“A total of 1,076 Indian nationals have been deported from the US to India so far this year,” external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told a regular media briefing. During 2025, a total of 3,567 people were deported from the US, he said in response to a question.

Both sides are in close touch on the issues of deportation, migration and mobility, and they are working to stop illegal migration without impacting legal migration, Jaiswal said.

External affairs minister S Jaishankar told Parliament last December that the government has engaged US authorities to ensure that Indian nationals being deported are not ill-treated and that women and children on deportation flights are not restrained with handcuffs and chains.

The maltreatment of 73-year-old Harjit Kaur during her deportation last year and the shackling of women and children on a deportation flight last February had triggered a controversy, and India had formally protested over these incidents.

The number of Indians deported from the US last year was the highest since 2009, when 734 Indians were sent back by Washington, according to figures provided by the external affairs ministry in Parliament. The figure rose to 1,303 in 2016 and to 2,042 in 2019.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Rezaul H Laskar
Rezaul Hasan Laskar is Foreign Editor with the Hindustan Times, which he joined in 2015. He began as a journalist in his hometown of Shillong in northeast India and has worked in newspapers and wire services over the years. He moved to New Delhi in 1997 and initially focused on defence, national security, Jammu and Kashmir and the northeast, while also working of foreign policy and international relations. He has been part of the media delegation accompanying PMs on foreign visits and has reported from destinations ranging from Tibet to Ukraine. Between 2007 and 2013, he was the Press Trust of India correspondent in Pakistan, one of only two Indian journalists allowed to report from the country. He extensively covered Pakistan’s domestic politics and the life of the common people, as well as the fallout of the 2008 Mumbai attacks on India-Pakistan relations and the subsequent trial in Pakistan of the suspects involved in the attack. As part of his reportage in Pakistan, he travelled the breadth of the country, from the Swat Valley to Balochistan. Reza’s first gig in journalism was writing a weekly music column, and music – especially classic rock – remains a keen interest. He is also a movie buff and a keen photographer.Read More

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