Punjab minister urges PM Modi to speak to Trump over Indians’ deportation

Chandigarh, Feb 5 (PTI) Hours after a US aircraft landed at the Amritsar airport with illegal immigrants, Punjab NRI Affairs minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal on Tuesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to speak to his “friend” US President Donald Trump regarding the deportation of Indians.

Dhaliwal also spoke to some of the deportees hailing from Punjab at the airport.

A US military aircraft carrying 104 illegal immigrants landed at the Shri Guru Ramdas Ji International Airport here on Wednesday afternoon — the first such batch of Indians deported by the Trump government.

While 30 of the deportees are from Punjab, 33 each are from Haryana and Gujarat, three each from Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, and two from Chandigarh, sources said.

Speaking to the media in Amritsar, Dhaliwal said that immigration process of deportees was underway at the airport.

He said a total of 104 Indians were deported from the US and, of them, 30 are from Punjab.

“All are healthy and ok. It was a long flight,” he said.

They had their meal, he further said.

“In the first batch, paperwork of people from Punjab was done. Thereafter, the immigration process of those who are from Haryana, Gujarat and other states will be carried out,” Dhaliwal said.

Terming the deportation “very serious,” Dhaliwal appealed to the Centre and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to speak to Trump to resolve this issue.

“We all know that PM Modi used to say that ‘Trump is my friend’. He had even campaigned for Trump during the last elections in September 2019 in the US. These are international issues and they can be discussed and resolved at that level.

“I urge PM Modi that at present, a sword of deportation and jails is hanging on the heads of many Indians and he should hold their hands and sit with Trump and find a solution to this issue,” said Dhaliwal.

Dhaliwal said he met some youths from Punjab and asked them about travel agents who sent them to the US.

“Most of them have said that the agents were from Dubai and they spoke to them through phones. I feel bad for some people who had Canadian visas and visas for other countries. But their work got spoiled when they reached there (US),” the minister said.

On Tuesday, Dhaliwal said the deportees, who contributed to that country’s economy, should have been granted permanent residency.

He had said many Indians entered the US on work permits which later expired, making them illegal immigrants.

The minister said he plans to meet External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar next week to discuss the concerns and interests of Punjabis living in the US.