Washington: A US military transport aircraft is deporting migrants to India, the first such flight since the US administration began sending back illegal migrants in line with President Donald Trump’s pledge to crack down on immigration.
An unnamed US official told a British news agency a C-17 aircraft had departed for India with migrants aboard but would not arrive for at least 24 hours. The official didn’t give further details.
There was no word on the development from Indian officials. The number of people on the deportation flight could not immediately be ascertained. A C-17 heavy-lift transport aircraft can carry up to 130 people.
A spokesperson for the US embassy declined to share details of the flight and said: “The United States is vigorously enforcing its border, tightening immigration laws, and removing illegal migrants. These actions send a clear message: Illegal migration is not worth the risk.”
India is the farthest destination of the Trump administration’s military transport flights for migrants,the news agency reported.
The Pentagon has provided flights to deport more than 5,000 immigrants held by US authorities at El Paso in Texas and San Diego in California. Military aircraft have flown migrants to Guatemala, Peru, and Honduras so far.
According to an American official, the US deported over 1,100 illegal migrants from India between October 2023 and September 2024. The last publicly acknowledged US flight that brought back Indians was on October 22, when about 100 illegal migrants were repatriated to India on a charter flight.
There has been a “steady increase” in deportations of illegal Indian migrants from the US in recent years, the official said during a virtual briefing last year.
