According to a Reuters video, a U.S. military plane carrying scores of undocumented Indian people touched down in Northern India Wednesday morning.
NBC News was informed by a defense official with firsthand knowledge of the matter that there were approximately 100 unauthorized Indian immigrants on board.
The flight is one of the most recent deportations to use military aircraft. It follows an executive order that President Donald Trump signed last month allowing the military to play a part in border security and immigration enforcement.
The Indian Embassy did not provide information about the deportation, but it did direct NBC News to remarks made by India’s Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson, Shri. Randhir Jaiswal, at a media briefing last week. According to Jaiswal, the nation is adamantly against illegal migration and will support initiatives aimed at halting the influx.
“I would like to stress that India and the United States have a strong and productive partnership in this area,” Jaiswal stated.
The aircraft, a C-17 that is typically used to move troops and supplies, took off earlier this week and touched down in the Punjabi city of Amritsar.
Speaking to reporters at the Amritsar airport, Punjabi cabinet minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal claimed he had spoken with a few young Indians who had been deported. They looked healthy, he told the media, though they were exhausted from the lengthy drive back. In addition, Dhaliwal urged Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will travel to the United States the next week, to collaborate with Trump in order to better assist individuals who are under danger of deportation.
According to The Times of India, Dhaliwal claimed that Indians who relocated there faced the prospect of expulsion or imprisonment. PM Modi could now leverage his connection with Donald Trump, whom he backed during his election campaign, to settle the dispute. If this friendship cannot assist Indian citizens in distress, what good is it?
When it comes to repatriating undocumented Indian immigrants, Trump assured reporters last week that he had a fruitful conversation with Modi and that India would act morally.
Then the flight arrives—In a statement last month, Acting Secretary of Defense Robert Salesses said that the Defense Department would enable deportation flights for over 5,000 unauthorized immigrants by using military airlift. Numerous military aircraft have since taken off from American territory. However, several have had problems when they landed.
In late January, a U.S. military plane carrying unauthorized immigrants was stopped by Mexico. At first, Colombian President Gustavo Petro also turned down two military planes that were bound for the nation. However, the White House said that Colombia accepted Trump’s demands a few days later when the president threatened to deploy broad retaliatory measures on the nation, such as visa and tariff bans.