Bound in the land of the free

• Omi Devi and Paramjeet Singh, a family of four, moved to the U.S. from India in December 2024, with a farm and house in Kurukshetra, Haryana, to be taken care of.

• They borrowed ₹1.25 crore from family members for the move.

• On January 23, 2025, they were deported by the U.S. after entering the country illegally.

• The family’s journey back to India took 40 hours, with multiple deportees and their children restrained.

• The family returned to Kurukshetra, where they rented a place for them, and the children were running a fever.

• The family is among hundreds of thousands of Indians who undertake treacherous journeys, known as “donkey routes,” to reach the U.S.

• The share of the “unauthorised Indian migrant population” in the U.S. has been increasing steadily since 1990, with a sharp decline to 2.2 lakh in 2022.

• The number of Indians apprehended by border patrol forces increased to 43,000 in 2023 from around 18,000 the previous year.

• The U.S. presidential election campaign last year resonated with voters, with many Indians crossing the south-western border of the U.S. on foot.

• The family lost one of their suitcases upon landing in Paris, and they were told they were on their own to the Tijuana border from El Salvador.

Indian Deportees’ Journey to the U.S.

Robin Handa’s Journey

• Robin Handa, 18, was sent to the U.S. via a loan from his father, an electrician.

• He was taken to Guyana from Mumbai on July 24, 2024, and then to Brazil, where he travelled with 30 others.

• He crossed seas on small boats, waded through rivers, and traversed the Amazon jungles to reach Peru, Ecuador, and Colombia.

• He was arrested from there on January 22, 2024, and spent nearly six months without proper food.

Jaspal Singh’s Journey

• Jaspal Singh, 36, from Punjab’s border district of Gurdaspur, entered California through the Tijuana border crossing on January 22, 2022.

• He had arranged for the ₹40 lakh that his agent had asked for and left Delhi in February 2022.

• He spent two years doing construction work in Brazil and sent money home.

• Jaspal called his agent daily to check on his U.S. paperwork and was eventually put on a flight to Brazil.

• He was arrested by uniformed officers, sent to a camp in San Diego, and then shackled and put on a bus to the air strip.

• During the journey, Jaspal’s handcuffs were removed, and he was chained and brought back to India.

Indian Nationals’ Asylum Requests in the U.S.

• The number of asylum requests from Indian nationals in the U.S. increased from 6,000 in 2020 to 51,000 in 2023, with 66% of asylum cases filed by Punjabi speakers.

• The U.S. banned the Customs and Border Protection One mobile app that allowed migrants to schedule appointments at eight southwest border ports of entry, requesting asylum.

• Indians taking the ‘donkey route’ were told to reset their phones to factory settings, destroy their SIM cards, and dispose of the phone.

• The deportees were told at immigration to jot down details they remembered of their respective agents.

• The police have launched extensive operations to try and identify these agents and prosecute them.

• The Punjab police have registered cases against travel agents who allegedly “duped” the deportees who landed in Amritsar.

• The police have been willing to help identify these agents and recover money.

• Despite the nervousness, Rajesh, a deportee, refuses to give up and believes in the dreams of his family.

• He sees neighbors sending children abroad and showing off their money in the form of new cars.

• Rajesh’s priority now is to help get Omi and Paramjeet back on their feet and ensure their children are again enrolled in school.