The United States earlier this week sent back a plane load of illegal Indian immigrants to India, according to an announcement by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Indian govt sources here said that the deportation by a chartered plane was a result of cooperation with the US on migration and mobility.

DHS said a large-frame charter removal flight was conducted on Oct 22 to India of Indian nationals who did not establish legal basis to remain in the United States. This shows the “department’s continued commitment to pursuing sustained cooperation with the Indian govt and other international partners to reduce and deter irregular migration and jointly work to counter human smuggling”, it said in a press release. DHS, however, did not give details about the number of immigrants or about where they came from in India.

“Indian nationals without a legal basis to remain in the United States are subject to swift removal, and intending migrants should not fall for the lies of smugglers who proclaim otherwise,” said senior official performing the duties of the deputy secretary of Homeland Security Kristie A Canegallo. “DHS will continue to enforce our nation’s laws,” added the official.

Sources in the Indian govt said as part of India-US cooperation on migration and mobility, both sides are engaged in a process to deter illegal migration. “This is being done to create more avenues for legal migration from India to the US. The latest deportation of Indian nationals by a chartered flight is a result of this cooperation,” said an official, adding such deportations have been happening for several years.

Since June 2024, DHS said, it removed or returned over 160,000 individuals and operated more than 495 international repatriation flights to more than 145 countries — including India.

The Indian govt said in Parliament last year that according to data published by US Customs and Border Protection on their website, the number of illegal Indian immigrants encountered by US authorities in 2023 was 96,917. The annual India-US Consular Dialogue is a mechanism through which both countries discuss consular issues of mutual interest including ensuring safe and legal migration.

DHS said it regularly engages with foreign govts throughout the hemisphere and around the world to accept repatriations of their nationals without a legal basis to remain in the United States.

“This is one tool among many DHS uses to reduce irregular migration, promote the use of safe, lawful, and orderly pathways, and hold transnational criminal networks accountable for smuggling and exploitation of vulnerable people,” it said.