On February 5, 2025, 104 illegal Indian immigrants, who had been residing in the United States, returned to India. A U.S. military plane, C-17, landed at Amritsar’s airport in Punjab, bringing the deported individuals back to their homeland. The flight had requested permission from the Amritsar Airport Authority before landing.

Upon returning, the deported individuals shared their harrowing experiences about how they had made their way to the U.S. and the challenges they faced during the journey.

A Young Man from Punjab Shares His Story

One of the returnees, Harvinder Singh from Tahli village in Hoshiarpur district, Punjab, spoke about how an agent promised him a work visa for the U.S. and charged him 42 lakh rupees. However, at the last moment, he was told that he didn’t get the visa and was instead sent on a dangerous journey.

Harvinder and other migrants had to climb mountains in Brazil before being placed on a small boat for a four-hour journey across the sea to the Mexican border. During the journey, the boat capsized, and one person died. Another person died in the jungle of Panama. For much of the journey, they survived on small pieces of rice.

“No Flight from Peru”

Harvinder continued his story, saying that in Brazil, he was told he would be flown from Peru, but no such flight existed. Eventually, taxis took them to Colombia, and then they reached Panama. There, they were promised a ship would take them further, but there was no ship. Their “donkey route” journey began, which lasted for two days.

“We Saw Many Dead Bodies”

Sukhpal Singh from Darapur village also shared the painful experiences he went through in his attempt to reach the U.S. He had to travel by sea for 15 hours and walk 40-45 kilometers through dangerous mountains. He said, “The injured people were left behind. We saw many dead bodies.”

Before entering the U.S., Sukhpal and others were caught in Mexico. He recalled, “We were locked up in a dark cell for 14 days and never saw daylight. There are many other Punjabi families and children in similar situations.”

Sukhpal urged others not to take illegal routes to foreign countries, advising them to avoid such dangerous journeys.