‘Detained for 11 days before deportation': Indian returned from US shares ordeal

Punjab Police set up a four-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) to inquire into the issue of illegal migration and human trafficking, DGP Gaurav Yadav said.

Heart-wrenching stories of how unscrupulous travel agents cheated Indian citizens on the promise of making them enter the United States continue to come out.

Jaspal Singh, 36, second left, one of the Indian immigrants deported by the United States talks to his relatives upon his return to his home near Amritsar, India, Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025.(AP)

A total of 104 Indians were deported via a C-17 military aircraft by US President Donald Trump's administration after they were found to be “illegal immigrants”.

Many of the deportees from Punjab and Haryana claimed they paid dubious travel agents between ₹40-50 lakh to enter the US without paperwork.

Jagtar Singh from Punjab's Bhateri village narrated an account of getting duped by a travel agent. Singh wished to illegally enter the US to join his brother residing legally in that country.

“I boarded a flight from Delhi to Malta on January 11. I was then taken to Spain and Mexico via the 'donkey route'. I entered the US on January 24 and was caught by the US Border Patrol,” he said.

Singh lives with his wife, their two daughters, and his mother. “My dream of building a better life has been shattered and my life has been ruined,” he said, adding that he was kept at a detention facility for 11 days before being deported.

Robin Handa, a 27-year-old computer engineer from Haryana's Kurukshetra, was made to travel to several countries by crossing the seas, often hungry, by travel agents who took ₹43 lakh from his family.

“I was assured that I would reach the US within a month, but it turned out to be a lie,” Handa told PTI while explaining how he was arrested immediately by US border patrol after “illegal” entry.

Handa was among the 104 illegal migrants, including 33 from Haryana and 30 from Punjab, who were deported by the US authorities on Wednesday. Of the 33 deportees from Haryana, 14 belong to Kurukshetra district.

Harwinder from Punjab's Hoshiarpur district said he paid ₹42 lakh to a travel agent who promised a “smooth passage” into the US.

His journey was anything but smooth. Harwinder was forced to undertake a dangerous journey on the infamous ‘donkey route’ to enter the US but ended up getting arrested by US border patrol.

The ‘donkey route’ involves crossing mountains, forests and the sea where people risk their lives in the hope of illegally entering the US to gain a better livelihood.

“I was taken to Brazil and from there, I was forced to undertake a journey by road through Ecuador, Colombia and Panama. There (Panama) I was forced to pay the remaining amount to the travel agent in India as I had only paid a part of it earlier,” Harwinder said.

Cases registered in Punjab, Haryana

Police in Punjab and Haryana registered cases against travel agents on charges of duping the families of the Indian immigrants deported from the US.

Amritsar Rural police on Friday booked Satnam Singh, a travel agent, for defrauding a deported migrant from Punjab of ₹60 lakh.

Haryana police also booked three travel agents for cheating and criminal breach of trust after receiving complaints from affected individuals.