New Delhi/Chandigarh, Nov 20
“This is the fourth time that I have been deported,” said Jabarjung Singh, 24, from Punjab’s Bathinda, among over 150 Indians who returned home on Wednesday after being deported for either violating visa norms or illegally entering the US.
“I boarded a flight on May 15 and reached Mexico via Moscow and Paris. From there, I tried to enter California on May 16, but was caught by the police and deported from Arizona,” he said. He said he had spent Rs 24 lakh in the four attempts and Rs 40 lakh on advocacy. This is one of the stories of the residents from Punjab on how their American dream shattered and huge savings wasted.
As they stepped outside the airport, one after the other, they appeared sad. Some said they felt dejected that they could not realise their American dream even after several attempts.
Lakshwinder Singh, another deportee, said he had given Rs 25 lakh to an Amritsar-based agent to help him enter the US.
“He sent me to Mexico on May 2 via Moscow and Paris. They caught me while I was trying to cross the border and deported here from Arizona in the US,” he said.
The special aircraft carrying the deportees landed at the T3 terminal of the Delhi airport at 6 am, an airport official said. The aircraft reached India via Bangladesh.
On October 18, more than 300 Indians, including one woman, were deported by Mexican immigration authorities for illegally entering the country to sneak into the US. (With PTI inputs)