Ahmedabad: After 104 illegal Indian immigrants, including 33 from Gujarat, were deported from the US last week, a second flight carrying more illegal Indian immigrants, including eight Gujaratis, is reportedly set to land in Punjab on Saturday.
The deportations are expected to continue as there are more detainees, including approximately 50 Gujaratis, at a US detention facility, according to the relatives of the first group of deportees who arrived in Gujarat last week.
The relatives said the deportees recalled that there were more illegal Indian immigrants, including at least 50 Gujaratis, held at the same detention facility in which they were held.
Sources in the ministry of external affairs (MEA) said the 104 deportees who returned to India last week were part of the detention camp comprising 200-odd Indians.
“The C-17 Globemaster could only accommodate 12 security personnel and 104 deportees when it flew from the US to India early in Feb. Now, the remaining people held in the detention camp, including at least 50 Gujaratis, are likely to be deported in the coming days,” said a source privy to the development.
A relative of a deportee from Mehsana said that another member of their family was held at the US-Mexico border by the United States Customs and Border Patrol (USCBP) and that they will not be given any hearing.
“All the people who were held after Jan 20, when Donald Trump took charge as the US President, will probably not be given any hearing. They will be directly sent to the detention camp and ultimately flown to India,” said a source, requesting anonymity owing to the sensitive nature of the operations.