India stands committed to promote legal pathways of migration: MEA

New Delhi, Sep 26 (IANS) Reiterating its longstanding stance against illegal migration, India on Friday emphasised its commitment to promote legal pathways of migration.

"In the last several months, since January 2025 so far, we've had 2,417 Indian nationals deported or repatriated from the United States. In the case of Harjeet Kaur, she also returned recently. We want to promote legal pathways of migration. At the same time, India stands against illegal migration,” said Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal while addressing a weekly media briefing in New Delhi.

He was responding to a question on the ongoing deportations of Indians from the USA. Harjit Kaur, a 73-year-old Sikh woman from Punjab, was among the latest deportees who arrived in India from the US on Thursday after being detained by California authorities during a standard check-in by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“Whenever there is a person who does not possess a legal status in any country, and he or she is referred to us with documents if there are claims that he or she is an Indian national, we do the background check, we confirm the nationality, and then we are in a position to take them back. And this is what has been happening with deportations from the United States,” Jaiswal added.

Harjit Kaur's lawyer had alleged she and other 131 deportees suffered mistreatment during the flight as part of the US President Donald Trump administration's ongoing 'crackdown' on illegal migrants.

Earlier in August, in response to a Lok Sabha query, Minister of State for External Affairs Kirti Vardhan Singh said that a total of 1,703 Indian nationals have been deported from the United States between January 20 and July 22, 2025.

The deportations were carried out via various modes, including US Customs and Border Protection military flights, chartered flights by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) charters. Additionally, several individuals were repatriated via commercial flights from both Panama and the US.

In a written reply to MP Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, MoS Kirti Vardhan Singh confirmed that the government has taken up concerns with the US authorities regarding the treatment of deportees. "The Ministry strongly registered its concerns with the US authorities on the treatment of deportees, particularly with respect to the use of shackles, especially on women and children," he noted.

--IANS

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