The US military aircraft C-17 Globemaster landed in Amritsar on Wednesday, carrying 104 Indians who were deported by the United States for staying illegally in the country. It was the first deportation flight for India since US President Donald Trump took over the reins of the United States. Trump had already vowed that he would deport people who are staying illegally in the US. 

The deportation took place just a week ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s proposed US visit, during which he will meet President Trump. The two leaders spoke over the phone last week and praised each other. The issue of illegal immigration was reportedly discussed. According to media reports, the US has identified 18000 illegal immigrants. A few research teams said that this number could be in lakhs. 

British Daily, The Guardian, cited the data of Pew Research stating that there is no record of over 7,25,000 Indian illegal immigrants in the United States.  The Indian community is the third largest after Mexico and El Salvador in terms of illegal immigrants in the United States. According to the Migration Policy Institute, the number of unlawful immigrants is half of the above-mentioned figure. 

As per The Guardian report, last year, 1000 illegal immigrants were sent back to India through commercial flights. Several media reports suggested that the United States will deport 18000 unlawful immigrants to India. Meanwhile, the opposition parties in India targeted the Modi government over the deportation issue.