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Punjab woman, among 104 deported Indians, returns with unfulfilled dream of marrying fiancé
A US military aircraft carrying 104 illegal immigrants from various states landed in Punjab's Amritsar on Wednesday.
Sukhjeet Kaur, a 26-year-old from woman Verpal village in Punjab, had reportedly traveled to the United States with dreams of starting a new chapter in her life by marrying her fiancé. However, her hopes were dashed as she was detained and deported back to India along with 103 others as part of newly sworn in US President Donald Trump's crackdown on illegal immigrants.
Sukhjeet Kaur's father, Kabul Singh, lives in Italy, while her mother and brother remain in Punjab.
The deportation has left her family in shock, as they never imagined their daughter’s dream would end this way. A relative shared that Sukhjeet, like many others, fell prey to an agent who helped her enter the US illegally, leading to her eventual deportation, according to an Indian Express report.
The financial burden of journey
On top of the pain of losing her dream, the financial burden of her journey weighs heavily on her family.
A US military aircraft carrying 104 illegal immigrants from various states landed in Punjab's Amritsar on Wednesday, the first such batch of Indians deported by the Donald Trump government as part of a crackdown against illegal immigrants.
Of them, 33 each were from Haryana and Gujarat, 30 from Punjab, three each from Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, and two from Chandigarh, sources cited in a news agency PTI report said.
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Relatives of deportees, including those from Punjab, expressed their distress over the huge sums of money they had invested—ranging between ₹30 lakh to ₹50 lakh—to send their family member to the US for better opportunities. Many of them had traveled illegally and hadn’t even applied for asylum.
The Punjab government, through NRI Affairs Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, has assured support for these deportees, with plans to discuss loan waivers with banks for those who borrowed large amounts of money to make the journey.
As Sukhjeet returns to Punjab, she, like many others, faces an uncertain future, having gambled everything on the hope of a better life abroad.
Jaspal Singh, another person among 104 deportees brought in the US aircraft on Wednesday, said he was defrauded by a travel agent as he was promised that he would be sent to the US in a legal way.
"I had asked the agent to send me through a proper visa. But he deceived me," said Jaspal. He said that the deal was done at ₹30 lakh," PTI quoted Jaspal Singh, who hails from Hardorwal village in Gurdaspur district of Punjab.
