US President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to carry out the largest deportation in American history once he assumes office on January 20, 2025. In preparation, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has compiled a list of approximately 1.5 million individuals marked for deportation. Among them, nearly 18,000 undocumented Indian nationals are on the list prepared by the US government, and at imminent risk of being sent back to India.
According to ICE data released in November 2024, 17,940 Indians are included in the 1.5 million individuals on the non-detained docket with final removal orders in the United States.
The US has approximately 725,000 illegal immigrants from India, making it the third-largest population of unauthorised immigrants after Mexico and El Salvador, according to data from the Pew Research Center.
In October, prior to the release of this data, the US used a chartered flight to deport Indian nationals staying in the country illegally.
The flight, sent to India on October 22, was organised in co-operation with the Indian government, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
Thousands of undocumented Indians in the US are struggling to legalise their status, with many waiting years for clearance from ICE. Notably, an average of 90,000 Indians were caught attempting to cross US borders illegally over the last three financial years.
According to the ICE document, Honduras with 261,651 undocumented immigrants have topped the deportation list, followed by Guatemala, Mexico and El Salvador.
US AGENCY LABELS INDIA AS ‘UNCOOPERATIVE’
The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has categorised India as “uncooperative”, citing delays in coordination by the authorities.
The document has also stated that the US government expects the appropriate steps by the foreign government to confirm the citizenship of non-citizens believed to be their nationals.
“Conducting interviews, issuing travel documents in a timely manner, and accepting the physical return of their nationals by scheduled commercial or charter flights consistent with ICE and/or foreign government removal guidelines,” stated the ICE document.
Lack of co-operation from countries in accepting the return of their nationals may lead to ICE classifying those countries as uncooperative or at-risk of non-compliance.
“Currently, ICE considers 15 countries to be uncooperative — India, Bhutan, Burma, Cuba, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Hong Kong, Iran, Laos, Pakistan, People’s Republic of China, Russia, Somalia, and Venezuela,” ICE said in a statement.