With US President Donald Trump ordering mass deportation of illegal immigrants, many Punjabis face the risk of being flown back. The first batch of 205 Indian nationals is set to land at the Amritsar airport on Wednesday morning.
The move has caused panic among families in Punjab that paid lakhs of rupees to illegal travel agents for ensuring the safe entry of their kin into the US via “donkey routes”. Those facing the risk of deportation include illegal immigrants and those overstaying in that country after reaching there on work or student visas.
California-based Satnam Singh Chahal, executive director of the North American Punjabi Association, said, “There is a lot of anxiety in the Punjabi community in the US ever since Trump came to power. Anyone, who is not able to show the requisite documents, is set to be shunted out without being given any chance of a trial. There are nearly 40,000-45,000 Punjabis in the US, who face this risk. They have all spent Rs 20-40 lakh to reach the US and have huge loans to repay. If they are pushed back, it shall not be easy for them to resettle here. Some of those being deported also have criminal background.”
The immigration agencies here, however, have welcomed the move saying the US had done what the Indian Governments could not do and that the move would only clean up the system.
Mitesh Malhotra of the Saviour Education Abroad said it was a much awaited step that would promote the legal way of going abroad. “Hundreds and thousands would be saved from the clutches of those who send students/aspirants in an illegal manner without documents. If 205 persons are coming tonight, it will save at least 2,000 persons more, who wanted to go to the US via illegal routes. Instead of cribbing, we should welcome the move as the hard-earned money of scores of people will not go down the drain,” Malhotra said.
Immigration agents from holy city Amritsar also opine that the deportation of illegally migrated Indian youths in general and Punjabis in particular would increase the business of genuine immigration firms.
“After all, an individual going illegally to the US spends more than double the amount than those going legally,” said Baljinder Singh, who has been operating an immigration company for the past eight years. They ignored the genuine way to avoid passing TOEFL and others tests. People legally migrate to the US on student, work and visitor visas. Among these, a student visa costs the most. On an average, an individual spends between Rs 15 to Rs 20 lakh to migrate to the US.
On the other hand, Manish Shahi, who has been running an immigration agency for the past 15 years, said, “An illegal immigrant to the US spends between Rs 40-50 lakh. After reaching the US, they slog for years to recover the amount incurred on their travel.”
Administrative officials in Punjab said they did not have any list of the deportees returning on Wednesday morning. Ludhiana Deputy Commissioner Jitendra Jorwal said he had no intimation as of now about anyone from the district being deported.
(With inputs from Deepkamal in Jalandhar, Shivani Bhakoo in Ludhiana and Neeraj Bagga in Jalandhar)
