Washington/New Delhi (NVI): Reacting to the first of its kind deportation of 311 illegal Indian immigrants from Mexico who were trying to sneak into America, the US has said this unprecedented action was a “strong message to human smugglers”.
Mark Morgan, the acting Commissioner of US Customs and Border Protection, said in a tweet that through the unprecedented repatriation of 311 Indian nationals to India, Mexico was showing its commitment to secure borders and orderly, legal migration.
In one of the biggest transatlantic deportations, a total of 311 Indians were sent back to India on a chartered flight and were accompanied by 74 Mexican officials, officials said.
This is the first such action taken by Mexico since it enhanced efforts to crack down on people using its territory to sneak into the US. National Institute of Migration of Mexico (INM) said in a tweet that the Indians – 310 men and one woman of different ages – left for New Delhi on a chartered flight from Toluca international airport.
INM said, the Indian nationals do not have documents to stay in Mexico, and their deportation was arranged after their identities were verified by Indian authorities. The Indian nationals were detained by immigration authorities in the Mexican states of Oaxaca, Baja California, Veracruz, Chiapas, Sonora, Mexico City, Durango and Tabasco. They were taken to the Acayucan migration station in Veracruz to verify their identities before being put on the chartered flight.
In May, US President Donald Trump had threatened to slap tariffs on all Mexican imports to pressure the country to do more to crack down on illegal migrants trying to cross the border. Trump also said the tariffs will increase until the entry of illegal migrants stopped but the two countries subsequently agreed on a 90-day window for Mexico to crack down on migration.
-nad
