Describing the deportation of illegal Indians from the US as a “very serious” issue, Dhaliwal, said, “We all know that PM Modi used to say that ‘Trump is my friend’. He even campaigned for Trump during the 2019 US elections. These are international issues and can be discussed and resolved at that level.””I urge PM Modi that the sword of deportation and jail is hanging on the heads of many Indians and he should hold their hands. He should sit with Trump and find a solution to this issue.”The deportees were questioned inside the airport terminal building by different government agencies, including the Punjab Police, and various state and central intelligence agencies to check if they have any criminal record.Around 6:45 pm the deportees from Punjab were taken to their respective hometowns in police vehicles after completion of all formalities.Similarly, illegal immigrants from Haryana were taken by the state police to their native places, sources said.They also said that arrangements were made by the state governments concerned to take the deportees to their native places.None of the deportees spoke to the media.There was heavy barricading outside the airport and police personnel were deployed in large numbers.Except for an Amritsar-based man, who came for his grandson, none of the family members of other deportees showed up at the airport.He, however, refused to talk to reporters at the airport and seemed miffed by the volley of questions.Earlier, media reports claimed that the US military plane was carrying 205 illegal immigrants.Among the illegal immigrants hailing from Punjab, six were from Kapurthala, five from Amritsar, four each from Patiala and Jalandhar, two each from Hoshiarpur, Ludhiana, SBS Nagar and one each from Gurdaspur, Tarn Taran, Sangrur, SAS Nagar and Fatehgarh Sahib, sources said.Family members of the illegal immigrants from Punjab said they took huge loans to send the youths to America hoping for a bright future but now feel it is impossible to break free from the crushing debt.They alleged that the travel agents adopted unfair means to facilitate the youths’ travel to the US without their knowledge.They now seek strict action against those agents.Senior Punjab BJP leader Harjit Singh Grewal asked Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann to make arrangements for the resettlement and employment of those from the state who have been deported by the US government.He also demanded strict action against the travel agents who sent the youths to the US through “donkey routes” and other illegal means by taking lakhs of rupees from them.Meanwhile, the Congress expressed sadness over “pictures of Indians getting handcuffed and humiliated” while being deported from the US and recalled that America had to express regret over the treatment meted out to India diplomat Devyani Khobragade in 2013 after the then UPA government retaliated sharply.
Source link
