 "India may bring back 18,000 illegal immigrants in the US. What about the thousands of others?")
United States President Donald Trump launched a crackdown on immigration, soon after assuming office on Monday (January 20). From his bid to end birthright citizenship to mobilising troops along the US-Mexico border, he took a hardline approach to illegal immigration on Day 1.
Amid Trump’s sweeping immigration clampdown, reports have emerged that India is planning to take back all its nationals living illegally in the US. New Delhi is eager to engage and comply with the US president to avoid a trade war.
Let’s take a closer look.
How many ‘illegal’ Indians are in the US?
The exact number of illegal Indian migrants in the US is not certain. There are varying figures.
According to the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), as many as 11 million (1.1 crore) illegal migrants were residing in America as of January 2022.
Some 220,000 “unauthorised” Indian immigrants lived in the US as of 2022, as per the DHS report released last year.
At 725,000, Indians were the third largest group of undocumented immigrants in the US, after those from Mexico and El Salvador, as per the Pew Research Center.
Over six million (60 lakh) deportations are pending or paused in legal proceedings in the US. With Trump in power, many prospective deportees are turning to attorneys specialising in pro-bono work and churches for protection, reported Times of India (TOI).
If Trump moves on with his plan to deport illegal immigrants, it could affect 20,407 “undocumented” Indians who are either in detention centres of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or are facing “final removal orders”, reported Indian Express.
Of these, 17,940 “paperless” Indians are under “final removal orders”, while another 2,467 are in detention under the ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO).
India to ‘take back’ citizens
Bloomberg reports that India is preparing to collaborate with Trump’s administration to identify and take back its citizens living illegally in the US.
America plans to send some 18,000 illegal Indian migrants back home. India will verify and start the deportation process, people familiar with the matter told the outlet.
The figure could be higher due to uncertainty about how many illegal Indian migrants live in the US.
Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said: “As part of India-US cooperation on migration and mobility, both sides are engaged in a process to deter illegal migration. This is being done to create more avenues for legal migration from India to the US.”
He pointed out that the process has already started, adding that over 1,000 undocumented Indians were brought back over the past year.
India previously worked with the Biden administration to take back undocumented nationals. About 1,100 Indians were repatriated from the US through charter and commercial flights between October 2023 and September 2024.
As per ICE’s 2024 Annual Report, the number of Indians deported from the US has seen a five-fold increase in four years – from 292 in 2021 to 1,529 last year.
Bloomberg’s report comes as Trump takes stringent measures to curb immigration. In the latest move, the US administration has announced a new directive allowing federal immigration officers to arrest migrants at sensitive locations such as schools, churches, and hospitals, which were previously off-limits. Critics worry this could deter migrants from seeking medical care and sending their children to school.
The US president also signed an executive order to take down an app that eased the process of applying for asylum.
What’s behind India’s move?
By taking back its nationals, India is trying to continue friendly terms with the US under Trump. It is hoping that the new American administration will protect student visas and the H-1B programme for skilled workers.
Indians accounted for nearly 75 per cent of all 386,000 H-1B visas granted in 2023. Some Republicans have opposed H-1B visas, often used in technology and engineering sectors, claiming foreigners get prestigious jobs that should go to Americans.
After initially calling them “very, very bad” for US workers, Trump changed track and called it a “great programme”.
Sources told Bloomberg that the Indian government’s efforts to work with the Trump administration on migration could also be to deter secessionist movements overseas, including the Khalistan movement.
India is also avoiding a trade war with the US. Trump has earlier complained about India’s high import taxes and threatened reciprocal taxes.
With inputs from agencies
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