US Deports 105 Indians via Military Plane to Amritsar Airport

On 5 Feb, upon US President Donald Trump’s first crackdown on Indian immigrants, a US military aircraft carrying Indian migrants landed in Amritsar. According to officials, the C-17 plane departed San Antonio with 105 deportees, underscoring Trump’s pledge to tighten borders and rapidly remove those who entered the country illegally. Although India accounts for roughly 3% of all unlawful crossings and the US has identified about 18K Indian nationals for deportation, the number could be much higher. The spectacle of migrants handcuffed and loaded onto a massive military plane is seen as part of Trump’s effort to deter new arrivals. Estimates indicate that such operations can exceed USD 4,675 per deportee, making them significantly pricier than standard Immigration and Customs Enforcement-run chartered flights. Despite concerns raised by some countries—like Colombia, which refused a US military deportation plane and later allowed commercial fights—Trump insists that strong visuals reinforce his no-tolerance stance. Meanwhile, India’s Ministry of External Affairs signaled willingness to take back Indian citizens who can be verified as overstaying or undocumented in the US. The plane carried 33 Gujaratis, 30 each from Panjab and Haryana, others from other states. Yet, its landing in Amritsar and not Delhi or Ahmedabad, especially when the plane flew over Gujarat to reach Panjab, has raised the heckles among Panjabis. They see the move as manipulating public perception that most ‘illegal’ migrants are from Panjab. In a parallel development, the US has reimposed sanctions on Iran’s Chabahar port project, previously exempted to support India’s regional connectivity to Afghanistan while bypassing Pakistan. For India, the suspension of the Chabahar waiver undermines a USD 11.4M investment. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to arrive in the US on 12 Feb for a two-day visit.