Is India planning to take back 18,000 illegal immigrants from US?

The Indian government is working with the new US administration under President Donald Trump to bring back 18,000 undocumented Indian immigrants from the country after the leader launched sweeping orders to deport illegal migrants.

According to a report by Bloomberg, the US and Indian governments have identified 18,000 Indian citizens living illegally in the country to be sent back home. Sources have told the publication that the figure can be much higher, although it is unclear how many more people can be added to the list since the number of Indian illegal immigrants is not known.

Declaring illegal immigration a national emergency on the day of his inauguration, Trump ordered the Pentagon to provide support for border wall construction, detention space, and migrant transportation and empowered the secretary of Defense to send troops to the border as needed.

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“One of my most important obligations is to protect the American people from the disastrous effects of unlawful mass migration and resettlement. My Administration will marshal all available resources and authorities to stop this unprecedented flood of illegal aliens into the United States,” Trump said.

India is hoping that its cooperation with the Trump administration will safeguard legal migration channels used by citizens to enter the US like student visas and the H-1B program.

Failure to address the issue of illegal US migrants could negatively impact India’s labour and mobility agreements with other nations, sources familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. Amid a domestic job shortage, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has signed migration agreements in recent years with several countries, including Taiwan, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Israel, and others.

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According to a Pew Research report of 2024, Indians (725,000) account for the third largest group of illegal immigrants in the US after Mexico and El Salvador.

Meanwhile, data from the US Customs and Border Protection show that the number of unauthorised Indian immigrants is rising in the country. Notably, illegal crossings have surged at the less-trafficked northern US border, where Indians make up nearly a quarter of all crossings and represent the largest group of unlawful migrants intercepted at that entry point.