US deported 414 Indian nationals in first three months of 2026, MEA tells Rajya Sabha
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New Delhi: The United States has deported 414 Indian nationals in the first quarter of 2026 alone, marking a sharp rise in the number of Indians being sent back from the country, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) informed the Rajya Sabha on Thursday.
The data was provided in a written reply by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to a question raised by Rajya Sabha member Neeraj Dangi. The figures show a steep increase over the past three years, with the US deporting 617 Indians in 2023, 1,368 in 2024 and a record 2,025 in 2025.
The details emerged in response to questions about the arrest and deportation of Indian truck drivers in the US. The MEA said that during “Operation Checkmate”, a Border Patrol enforcement action carried out in Arizona between May 11 and 15, 52 individuals were arrested for being in the country illegally, of whom 36 were driving semi-trucks. Of these, 30 were Indian nationals, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said, adding that most held expired Employment Authorisation Documents and would be processed under federal law for deportation.
The ministry said that as soon as reports of the arrests surfaced, the Indian Embassy in Washington DC contacted US authorities and sought the names and other particulars of those detained. However, it added that it was still awaiting confirmation of identities and other details from CBP nearly two months after the operation.
Apart from the US, significant numbers of Indians were deported from other countries in 2025, including the UK (156), Cyprus (164) and Germany (44), the MEA said. Smaller numbers were sent back from France, Italy, Spain, Greece, the Netherlands and Poland, it added.