India vowed on Thursday to curb illegal immigration to the US, as President Donald Trump and his administration carry out an unprecedented drive to deport undocumented migrants.
Over 100 Indian citizens were sent back home on a U.S. military aircraft on Wednesday. Their deportation comes just days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to meet with Trump in Washington next week. Thousands of other undocumented Indians in the US are expected to be sent back in the coming months.
“Our focus should be on a strong crackdown,” Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said in parliament on Thursday.
In an effort to avoid a trade war with the US, the Modi government has delivered a series of concessions to the White House on issues core to Trump’s agenda, including illegal migration. Opposition lawmakers on Thursday criticized the treatment of Indian citizens on the plane after local media reported that the deportees were handcuffed for 40 hours.
“We are engaging the U.S. government to ensure that the returning deportees are not mistreated in any manner during the flight,” Jaishankar said.
“It is in our collective interest to encourage legal mobility and discourage illegal movement,” Jaishankar added, noting that Indian enforcement agencies would take “preventive and exemplary actions” against a network of “agents” facilitating illegal migration from the South Asian country.
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