NEW DELHI, India — The United States deported over 100 Indian migrants this week, keeping them in shackles throughout a gruelling 40-hour flight home, including during bathroom breaks, in an incident that has sparked widespread condemnation in India and intensified diplomatic tensions.
The deportees, who arrived in Punjab on Wednesday, February 5, 2025, described harsh treatment by US officials during the flight, marking the latest controversy in President Donald Trump’s intensified immigration enforcement policies.
‘Treated Like Criminals’
“Our hands were cuffed and ankles tied with chains before we took the flight,” said 23-year-old Akashdeep Singh, one of the deportees.
“We requested the military officials to take it off to eat or go to the bathroom, but they treated us horribly and without any regard whatsoever.”
Another deportee, Sukhpal Singh, 35, said the shackles remained on even during a refueling stop in Guam.
“They treated us like criminals,” he said. “If we would try to stand because our legs were swelling due to the handcuffs, they would yell at us to sit down.”
A video posted by US Border Patrol Chief Michael W. Banks on X showed Indian deportees boarding the aircraft in shackles, their movements restricted as they shuffled toward the plane.
“USBP and partners successfully returned illegal aliens to India, marking the farthest deportation flight yet using military transport,” Banks wrote.
“This mission underscores our commitment to enforcing immigration laws and ensuring swift removals. If you cross illegally, you will be removed.”
USBP and partners successfully returned illegal aliens to India, marking the farthest deportation flight yet using military transport. This mission underscores our commitment to enforcing immigration laws and ensuring swift removals.
If you cross illegally, you will be removed. pic.twitter.com/WW4OWYzWOf
— Chief Michael W. Banks (@USBPChief) February 5, 2025
CNN has reached out to the Pentagon and US Customs and Border Protection for comment on whether the detainees were restrained for the entire flight.
The deportation flight to India was the longest of its kind since the Trump administration began using military aircraft for migrant removals, according to a US official.
Protests in India
The treatment of the deportees has triggered strong reactions in India, particularly in Punjab, a state that has seen a sharp rise in youth migration to the US.
On Thursday, Indian lawmakers staged a demonstration outside parliament, some wearing shackles in protest and others mocking the much-touted friendship between Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In New Delhi, members of the youth wing of India’s main opposition party burned an effigy of Trump, condemning what they called “inhumane treatment” of Indian citizens.
S. Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, a government minister in Punjab, urged Modi to intervene, calling the incident a test of his close ties with Trump.
“If this friendship cannot help Indian citizens in need, what is the use of it?” Dhaliwal’s office said in a statement.
The controversy comes just days before Modi is expected to visit Washington to meet Trump, a leader he has previously called a “true friend.”
The episode is likely to add pressure on Modi to address the treatment of Indian nationals abroad.
A Growing Migration Crisis
The US has seen a sharp increase in undocumented Indian migrants, many of whom take a perilous route through Latin America to reach the southern border.
In the past four years, the number of Indians entering the US illegally has risen from 8,027 in the 2018-19 fiscal year to 96,917 in 2022-23, according to US government data.
Many migrants leave India due to limited job opportunities, selling land and paying thousands of dollars to agents who facilitate their journeys.
“I had gone for work, for a better life, for a better future,” said Sukhpal Singh, who has two young children.
“You see it in movies and you hear from people around you that there’s work there and people are successful there, so that’s why I also wanted to go.”
The latest deportation episode is expected to fuel further debate over Trump’s hardline immigration stance and its impact on international relations, particularly with key US allies like India.
