Deported Jagraon woman again wants to go abroad to support family

For 21-year-old Jagraon woman, who had gone to the UK on a study visa, the deportation to India came as a rude shock as she came to know about it only when on the plane to Amritsar.

“You can’t say I was deported as I have a UK visa for two more years,” Muskan says, adding that she wanted to go abroad to study and earn for her family as she is the eldest among four sisters.

Initially, the family was reluctant to speak to the media but later Muskan opened up and narrated how she landed in the US. 

“I went to the UK on a study visa in January 2024 to study business. During vacations, I decided to go to Mexico on January 25 this year. From there I crossed the Tijuana border into the US. There were around 50 people, majority of them women from all parts of the world. As we crossed the border, a bus took us to a camp, where we stayed for 10 days. I think the cameras get the information about who crosses the border as I did not see any security personnel at the Tijuana border. Once in the US, the security personnel took our bags and mobile phones and we wore the outfits they gave us,” she says, adding that the US security personnel were nice with them. 

“They were very polite. Till the time we were in the camp we were not told that they intended to deport us. We were made comfortable. On January 3, they asked us to be ready as we would be taken to another border to be released. For three days, we were on the US military plane; it stopped at some place which we did not know. The plane crew was also considerate. Though we were chained and in handcuffs, we were allowed to eat comfortably. When we got to know on the plane that we were on our way to Amritsar, we felt bad as we did not wish to come back to India in this manner,” she says. 

Muskan says she had not spoken to her family since January 25, and they got to know about her being deported from a relative in Australia. Her mother says the family is in shock as they have spent Rs 45 lakh on sending her abroad. 

Appreciating the US administration, Muskan says she was moved when the US security personnel asked them to relax and come back legally to be welcomed into their country. 

She alleges that after they landed in Amritsar, the security people were rude and looked at them as if they were hardcore criminals. “That’s why people want to go abroad. Send me anywhere but I don’t want to stay in India. I never felt insecure in the UK or in the US though I was detained there,” Muskan says. 

Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner Jitendra Jorwal says the administration is getting in touch with her so that she could be suitably employed.