Amritsar: A total of 112 Indians were sent on the third deportation flight from the United States, which landed at Amritsar’s Sri Guru Ramdas Ji International Airport on the night of February 16, Sunday.
From France to United Kingdom, Guyana in South America to Ethiopia, United Arab Emirates to Spain and Germany, most of the deportees who reached Amritsar on the third flight were taken by agents via these countries, exposing a nexus of donkers operating the dunki route through Mexico or Nicaragua to enter the US illegally.
Forty four were from Haryana, 33 from Gujarat, 31 were from Punjab, two from Uttar Pradesh and one each from Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.
Earlier, on February 5 and February 15, the first and second deportation flights sent back 104 and 116 Indians from the US, respectively. So far, 332 Indians have been deported from the US.
A closer look at the list of deportees also reveals that the agents took them together either in groups or individually but via major international airlines like Turkish Airlines, Qatar Airways, Emirates, KLM Airlines, Air India and Virgin Atlantic, to name a few, by projecting the dunki route as ‘legal’ and trapping individuals aspiring to go to the US.
‘Ill-treating deportees’
The second and the third US deportation flight made further headlines as Sikh youths reached Amritsar without their turbans because they were asked to remove it. Shiromani Gurdwara Parbhandak Committee (SGPC), the apex body of the Sikhs, fumed over the US authorities and the Union government for this lapse, while the families of the youths too reacted strongly to this incident.
Speaking to The Wire, Surjit Singh, the father of 40-year-old Narinder Singh from Panjdhera Raiya village in Mukerian tehsil of Hoshiarpur said that his son left for US on Lohri ie January 13, 2025 and reached home after getting deported on February 16, 2025.
“The agent had told us that he will be going via flight to the US but we never knew that he would be back in handcuffs and shackles. Everybody in the flight, including women, were handcuffed and chained,” he said.
Before going to the US, Narinder worked in Dubai for three years. It was only after he came home from Dubai that he decided to move to the US.
“As one of Narinder’s cousins was already in the US, he felt that it was a good idea to move there. My Italy-based elder brother knew an agent from Ambala, Haryana, through one of his friends, after which we finalised the deal at Rs 42 lakh for my son’s journey to the US. I mortgaged my 1 acre of land, some gold and took Rs 20 lakh on loan to send my son to the US. I thought that once he reached the US, my son would earn this amount within no time”, he said while expressing deep concern about the future of his son.
Among other deportees was 23-year-old Jatinder Singh, a Sikh youth from Jandiala Guru, Amritsar, who reached home in the third flight on February 16. Jatinder had left home on September 17, 2024, and entered the US on January 27, 2025. His flight was from Mumbai to Guyana in South America from where he reached the Panama jungle.
Jatinder’s father Gurbachan Singh, a retired Army soldier, told The Wire that his son’s dream of going abroad has shattered with this deportation. He had earlier tried for a Canada and Australia work permit too but failed to get it.
“Jatinder always wanted to go abroad but destiny had something else in store for him. My son spent six months on the US dunki route for which I arranged around Rs 45 lakh. We sold one acre of our agricultural land, his mother’s gold and that of his sister too to send him to the US. Jatinder started his journey on September 17, 2024 and entered the US on January 27, 2025,” he said.
Gurbachan Singh also condemned the Union government’s attitude towards the deportees. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi went to the US but he did not say anything about the ill treatment of the deportees. The Sikh youth’s turbans were also removed by the US authorities. All the deportees came home in handcuffs and shackles as if they were criminals. Their handcuffs were removed around 10 minutes before the deportees came out of the aircraft. Had there been enough jobs here, why would anybody think of leaving their motherland?” he questioned.
While talking to the media earlier, Jatinder had said that the deportees were not only in handcuffs, but his turban and that of fellow Sikh deportees were also removed before they boarded the US Military aircraft at San Diego.
“In the flight it was a Pakistani Punjabi translator from US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) who informed all those onboard that they had been deported. The US officials handcuffed all the deportees on February 13 and removed them on February 16 after a 36-hour long journey”, he added.
Dangerous routes
Jatinder also said that it was a six-month long dunki during which he crossed the deadly Panama jungle, where one can easily spot snakes, crocodiles and dead bodies.
Initially, his Haryana-based agent had promised him that he would go via Nicaragua and not Panama jungle but then he changed the route, forcing Jatinder to cross the deadly Panama stretch.
“Panama jungle is far more dangerous than what one can imagine,” he said.
Notably, before trying for the US, Jatinder had applied for a Canada and Australia work visa too but could not get it.
Meanwhile, a Haryana deportee from Pehowa, Sahil Verma, who too returned in the third deportation flight was arrested by the Haryana Police.
Before leaving for US via dunki route, Sahil was booked under POSCO case for molesting a minor. On the complaint of the minor in 2022, a case was registered against him.
When he had managed to flee to the US, he was declared a proclaimed offender by the Haryana Police.
On February 15, 2025, when the Haryana Police received information that Sahil Verma had also been deported, they sent a police team to Amritsar and arrested him. He has been sent on judicial remand.
