Dozens of youths from Haryana, Goa, Gujarat and Hyderabad were deported from the United States over the weekend after being caught entering the country illegally via the dangerous “donkey route.” A US Air Force C-17 carrying the deportees landed in New Delhi late Saturday night, according to officials.
Reports said 35–50 Indian men, many of them in their 20s and 30s, were flown back in handcuffs and leg shackles after spending months inside American detention centres. While PTI reported 35 deportees, The Indian Express wrote that the total number was around 50. A majority of them belonged to Kaithal, Karnal and Kurukshetra districts in Haryana.
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‘We were chained on the plane’, say deportees
The deportees were handed over to local police and later released to their families. Many of them said they were duped by agents who took ₹30–60 lakh per person, promising a safe entry into the US through countries such as Brazil and Mexico.
Naresh Kumar, a youth from Kaithal quoted by PTI, said he sold land and borrowed heavily to pay nearly ₹57 lakh, only to end up in a US jail for 14 months.
“Most of us were handcuffed on the plane. Our agents cheated us. I wouldn’t advise anyone to take this route,” he said.
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Families told The Indian Express that several youths were shackled on their hands and feet during the flight back to Delhi. Another deportee, Ankur Singh from Karnal, said he was arrested in Georgia earlier this year while working at a liquor shop after entering the US through South America in 2022.
Rising deportation rates via Donkey Route
The ‘donkey route’ which is a popular illegal migration chain through Latin America, has surged in recent years, especially among rural Indian youth chasing the US dream. The Ministry of External Affairs told reporters in July that 1,563 Indians have been deported by the US since Donald Trump returned to office in January. During Trump’s first term, 6,135 Indians were deported between 2017 and 2021, with a peak in 2019 (2,042 deportations).
Despite multiple crackdowns, deportees said agents are still active in Haryana and Punjab, luring jobless youth with promises of a “guaranteed future” in America.
