India has expressed readiness to collaborate with the US to identify and repatriate thousands of its citizens reportedly living illegally in America.
This came as US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, and Indian foreign minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, discussed “irregular migration” on Tuesday as president Donald Trump took office, according to the US State Department.
The move to collaborate on repatriating as many as 18,000 Indians living illegally in the US is seen as an attempt by India to placate the new US president who could initiate a trade war with India over its high import taxes.
In his first actions as president, Mr Trump prioritised tackling illegal immigration, issuing orders to declare a border emergency and station troops along the US-Mexico border.
India hopes the Trump administration will safeguard legal immigration pathways for its citizens, including student visas and the H-1B programme for skilled workers. H-1B visas are for highly skilled immigrants typically working in tech, healthcare, engineering and finance. Official data shows that Indian citizens made up nearly three-fourths of the 386,000 H-1B visas issued in 2023 in the US.
On Tuesday, Mr Trump weighed in on the H-1B visa debate and said: “I like both sides of the argument, but I also like very competent people coming into our country, even if that involves them training and helping other people that may not have the qualifications they do.”
While working to address the issue of illegal migration, India is also focusing on advocating for the continuation and expansion of visa programmes such as the H-1B for its citizens. India is also keen to preserve avenues for student visas, which allow its large number of students to pursue higher education in the US.
Sources told Bloomberg that 18,000 people of Indian origin living in the US illegally have been identified, though the actual number is likely to be much higher. The Pew Research Center estimates there are approximately 725,000 undocumented Indian immigrants in the US, making them the third-largest group after migrants from Mexico and El Salvador.
The Indian government has not confirmed the deportation figure but Randhir Jaiswal, a spokesperson for India’s Ministry of External Affairs, said that “as part of India-US cooperation on migration and mobility, both sides are engaged in a process to deter illegal migration”.
He added: “This is being done to create more avenues for legal migration from India to the US.”
“The latest deportation of Indian nationals from the US by a chartered flight is a result of this cooperation,” he added, referring to an October repatriation action.
It was reported that India’s attempt at collaborating to identify and repatriate illegal Indian migrants in the US is aimed at trying to avoid a trade war with the new president in office. Mr Trump has consistently criticised India’s high import taxes, claiming they harm American businesses and has pledged to impose reciprocal duties on India.
The India-US relationship has been on the up for several years, with the Biden administration working to strengthen ties with India as a counterbalance to China. Despite India facing accusations of an attempted extrajudicial killing on US soil, prime minister Narendra Modi’s government has been keen to work closely with Mr Trump since his return to office.
It was also reported that repatriating illegal migrants could also support Mr Modi’s objective of curbing secessionist movements abroad, such as the Khalistan movement, which advocates for an independent Sikh state in India. India has been cracking down on this movement, and officials suspect that some of its supporters in the US and Canada are residing there illegally.
