US To Deport 18,000 Indian Illegals

India-West News Desk

WASHINGTON, DC – For years, both India and Indian Americans have focused on their community’s achievements, often sidestepping the complexities surrounding US immigration policies. However, with Donald Trump now in power, the repercussions of his administration’s stance on immigration and trade are becoming unavoidable, forcing India and the community to face these issues head-on.

India and Indians, one of the largest international supporters of Trump, is now grappling with the realities of his policies, particularly those aimed at cracking down on illegal immigration.

Bloomberg reports that around 18,000 Indian migrants could face deportation, though the actual number may be much higher due to the challenges in tracking undocumented individuals.

Pew Research has said Indians now make up the third-largest group of illegal immigrants in the US, with an estimated 725,000 living without legal status. Data from US Customs and Border Protection also highlights the growing trend of illegal crossings, especially at the lesser-traveled northern border, where Indians make up nearly a quarter of all unauthorized migrants. Indians have become the largest group of unlawful migrants intercepted at this entry point.

India is proactively working to cooperate with the Trump administration in an effort to avoid a trade war and manage the fallout from deportations, the report said.

India is hoping that its collaboration on illegal immigration will help protect critical legal migration channels, such as student visas and the H-1B program for skilled workers. These programs are essential for the thousands of Indians who migrate to the US each year for work and education. India’s hope is that by addressing Trump’s concerns on illegal immigration, it can safeguard these key pathways for legal migration.

Indians in India, exulting over Trump’s election victory might now have to face the idea that the immigration status of their families who are in the US to study or working have a difficult road ahead if they want to get a US passport.

The Indian diaspora leads the world in repatriating money to their home country and the Indian economy has benefited greatly from this. The Narendra Modi government has shifted the “brain drain” phrase to “brain gain.”

The Modi government has also signed migration agreements with several countries, including Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Japan, and Israel, to address domestic workforce gaps there. However, India’s collaboration with the US on illegal immigration could complicate these international labor agreements, particularly with nations in the Middle East that rely heavily on Indian workers, analysts say.