167 illegal Indian immigrants land at Amritsar
Strict action should be taken against the travel agent who charged ₹21 Lakh from us and ₹1 lakh extra for returning my son’s passport. GURSEWAK SINGH, father of a youth from Muktsar
AMRITSAR: As many as 167 Indians who had entered the United States (US) and were living illegally, have been deployed through a special chartered flight that landed at Sri Guru Ram Das Jee International Airport in Amritsar on Tuesday.
Of the 167 Indians deported, 71 are from Haryana and 67 from Punjab. The remaining hail from other states. The chartered flight, run by the ICE air operations, an air transportation arm of the US agency entrusted with the task to remove illegal migrants from the American soil, landed at 4pm at the Amritsar airport, where they were screened by the health department.
As many as 92 Indian immigrants were detained by the US Customs and Border Protection personnel in Texas after they illegally entered the US from Mexico.
There were 21 detentions from New York, and 22 each from Atlanta and San Francisco.
Ajnala SDM Deepak Bhatia said all passengers are being sent to their respective districts in Punjab and those belonging to other states will be taken away by vehicles of their respective states.
He said that everyone will be quarantined in their respective states and districts.
“As many as 21 men have been taken to Swami Vivekanand Drug De-addiction and Rehabilitation Centre, a government quarantine centre in Amritsar for now. From here, youths of other regions will be sent to their respective districts,” said an official.
PARENTS SEEK ACTION AGAINST TRAVEL AGENTS
Mother of Meetkamal Singh, 20, of Bholath in Kapurthala district, said, “A travel agent gave us assurance that he will take my son to Mexico from where he will help him enter the US and charged Rs 26 Lakh. My son went to Mexico on a six-month visitor visa on April 25. He told us that he crossed over to the US side by jumping the wall at border. However, he and others were caught.” She said, “He told us that he was kept at a checkpost and the US personnel had asked him to be ready to be deported.”
“I am not concerned about the loss of money. I’m happy that my son has returned home safe. But he had to spend days in the US government’s custody under tough circumstances. He told us over the phone that he was beaten up. I appeal to all parents not to send their wards to the US in any illegal way through these travel agents,” she added.
Father of another youth, Gursewak Singh of Mukatsar, said, “Strict action should be taken against the travel agent who charged Rs 21 Lakh from us and Rs 1 lakh extra for returning my son’s passport.”