 "A US military aircraft carrying illegal Indian immigrants upon its landing at the Shri Guru Ramdas Ji International Airport, in Amritsar, February 5, 2025. PTI")
The first US military plane carrying Indian immigrants, who had entered America illegally, landed in Punjab’s Amritsar in the afternoon today (February 5). The passengers on the C-17 aircraft included Indian nationals from Haryana, Gujarat, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Chandigarh.
United States President Donald Trump, who returned to the White House on January 20, had promised to crack down on illegal immigration in his election campaigning. Since coming to power, he declared a national emergency on the US-Mexico border. So far, the US military planes have already deported migrants to Guatemala, Peru and Honduras.
As the US starts sending undocumented Indian nationals back, here’s what will happen once they return to their homeland.
Indians deported by US
The US military plane has brought back 104 Indian nationals who had illegally arrived in America. As per Indian Express, the aircraft had 11 crew members and 45 US officials on board.
The flight departed from San Antonio, Texas, around 3 am IST on Tuesday (February 4).
The highest number of deportees, 33 each, are from Gujarat and Haryana. While 30 are from Punjab, three are from Maharashtra, and two each are from Uttar Pradesh and Chandigarh.
The plane had 25 women and 12 minors, including a four-year-old, on board. Forty-eight deportees are below the age of 25.
The plane carrying Indian nationals did not land in Delhi-NCR, a decision taken at the highest level, as per News18.
The military aircraft landed at Shri Guru Ramdas Ji International Airport in Punjab’s Amritsar.
Sources told India Today that each person on the flight was verified before being sent back to India.
The aircraft is expected to refuel at Ramstein air base in Germany before leaving for Amritsar.
This is the first time that the US has deployed military aircraft to deport illegal immigrants. The C-17 Globemaster, which uses jet engines, has a toilet on board and seats are arranged for the movement of US troops, noted The Tribune.
Speaking to ANI about the deportation flight, a US Embassy spokesperson said, “I have received a number of inquiries on the report of a deportation flight to India. I can’t share any details on those inquiries, but I can share, on the record, that the United States is vigorously enforcing its border, tightening immigration laws, and removing illegal migrants. These actions send a clear message: illegal migration is not worth the risk.”
The Pentagon is also providing planes to send back more than 5,000 immigrants held by US authorities in El Paso, Texas, and California’s San Diego, reported Reuters.
What happens now?
After the US military plane landed in Punjab on Wednesday, the Indian nationals on the flight are expected to be debriefed, according to the News18 report.
Authorities stressed the need to know the backgrounds of the people who illegally entered the US, including whether they “originated” from India or other locations.
Sources told News18 that it was also necessary to find the identity of those who facilitated the illegal crossings .
How costly are these deportation flights?
The US deploying military planes to help implement Trump’s immigration agenda is proving costly.
As per Reuters, a military flight deporting migrants to Guatemala last week is estimated to have cost at least $4,675 (about Rs 4 lakh) per migrant. In comparison, a one-way first-class ticket on American Airlines on the same route would cost $853 (about Rs 74,000).
The US Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE) operates commercial charters that seem similar to regular commercial planes to carry out deportations.
As per the information on ICE’s website in 2021, the cost for “ICE Air” flights was $8,577 (Rs 7.4 lakh) per flight hour.
However, as per Reuters, “…acting ICE Director Tae Johnson told lawmakers during an April 2023 budget hearing that deportation flights cost $17,000 (about Rs 15 lakh) per flight hour for 135 deportees and typically lasted five hours.”
This would “translate to a cost of $630 (over Rs 54,000) per person, assuming the charter company, and not ICE, pays the cost of the return flight.”
It takes an estimated $28,500 (approximately Rs 25 lakh) per hour to operate a C-17 military transport aircraft. The deportation flight to India is the longest so far.
How many ‘Illegal’ Indians are in the US?
There are about 725,000 undocumented Indian nationals in the US.
As per an earlier Bloomberg report, the US plans to deport some 18,000 illegal Indian migrants . The figure could be higher due to uncertainty about how many illegal Indian migrants live in the US.
India is cooperating with the US by taking back its nationals who entered America illegally, as Trump fulfils his promise of mass deportations.
For New Delhi, the priority is that these illegal immigrants do not hamper any legal channels for Indians to travel to the US, as per Indian Express.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has earlier said that India is open to the “legitimate return” of its citizens, who have been illegally residing in other countries, including the US.
“With every country, and the US is no exception, we have always maintained that if any of our citizens are there illegally, and if we are sure that they are our citizens, we have always been open to their legitimate return to India,” he said.
With inputs from agencies