New Delhi: A plane transporting illegal migrants arrived from the United States in Punjab's Amritsar airport on Saturday.
The second such plane in 10 days carried 119 Indians as part of President Trump’s mass deportation of illegal immigrants.
Another plane with 157 deportees is expected on Sunday.
The first deportation of illegal immigrants on February 5 saw 104 Indians arriving in Amritsar.
At 11:40 pm on Saturday, the US Air Force’s C-17 Globemaster aircraft landed at the Amritsar International Airport deporting illegal Indians with some of their relatives turning up at the airport to receive them.
The deportees included 67 from Punjab, 33 from Haryana, 8 from Gujarat, three from UP, two each from Goa, Maharashtra and Rajasthan and one each from Himachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir, according to NDTV.
Previously those arrived onboard a military aircraft from San Antonio, included people belonging to Haryana (33), Gujarat (33), Punjab (30), Maharashtra (3) Uttar Pradesh (3), and Chandigarh (2).
The reports of shackling of Indians throughout the flight before freeing upon arrival triggered a political storm in India, with both Houses of Parliament seeing an uproar during the Budget session.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar assured that the government would take the matter up with the US to ensure the deportees are not mistreated, adding that deportation of illegal migrants by the US was not new development.
During his visit to the US last week, PM Modi said that India would take back its citizens living illegally in the US.
‘Our bigger fight is against that entire ecosystem, and we are confident that President Trump will fully cooperate with India in finishing this ecosystem,’ he was quoted as saying.
Justifying the deportation, the US Embassy in India said ‘enforcing our nation's immigration laws is critically important to the national security and public safety of the United States’.
Deportees mostly belonging to Punjab earlier said they migrated to the US for better life but were caught at the US border, shattering their dreams.