India has not accepted a list of 271 people deemed as illegal migrants by the United States authorities pending the verification of their nationality, Union minister Sushma Swaraj told Rajya Sabha on Thursday.
The minister said India will not take steps to issue emergency travel documents to the people identified as illegal immigrants till it is sure of their citizenship.
“We have not accepted this list and have sought more details. We have said that it is only after we verify the details that we can issue an emergency certificate for their deportation,” the external affairs minister said.
Swaraj was responding to a question on the recent orders of the American President on illegal immigrants that put people of Indian origin in the US at the risk of deportation.
The minister said India was engaging with the US at the highest level to ensure the protection of Indians on work visas in that country.