Twelve Indians deported from US to Panama arrive in Delhi

Twelve Indians who had been deported to Panama by the United States returned to India on Sunday, PTI reported.

The deportees, who were the first ones to have returned from Panama after being removed from the United States, landed at Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport. Four of them were from Punjab, and were sent to Amritsar from Delhi, The Indian Express reported.

In all, the United States has deported 332 Indians on three flights this month.

The 12 Indians were part of a larger group of 299 undocumented migrants from India who were sent to Panama by the US government. They arrived in Panama after President Jose Raul Mulino agreed to make the country a “bridge” country for them.

The Costa Rican government had also agreed to accept a US flight on February 19 with 200 undocumented migrants from India and Central Asia who were being deported.

These developments come against the backdrop of a wider crackdown on undocumented immigration by US President Donald Trump’s administration.

On January 24, India’s Ministry of External Affairs said that it was committed to taking back Indian nationals residing abroad without proper documentation. This came after reports that India was working with the Trump administration to deport around 18,000 undocumented or visa-overstaying Indian nationals from the US.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said in…

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