Chandigarh – Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday strongly criticized the central government for allegedly singling out Amritsar as the designated landing site for a second batch of Indian immigrants deported from the United States. He accused the Centre of attempting to defame Punjab by making it the focal point of the deportation process.
According to reports, a US aircraft carrying 119 deported Indian immigrants is expected to arrive at Amritsar airport on February 15. This follows a similar deportation last week when 104 Indian nationals were repatriated on a US military flight, sparking nationwide outrage, particularly over reports that the deportees had been handcuffed during transit.
Official sources, cited by news agency PTI, revealed that among the 119 immigrants in the upcoming batch, 67 are from Punjab, 33 from Haryana, eight from Gujarat, three from Uttar Pradesh, two each from Goa, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan, and one each from Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.
Addressing a press conference, CM Mann accused the BJP-led central government of persistent discrimination against Punjab. “The Centre never misses an opportunity to tarnish Punjab’s image,” he asserted. Highlighting the demographic distribution of the first deportation flight—33 individuals each from Haryana and Gujarat, and 30 from Punjab—Mann questioned the rationale behind choosing Amritsar as the landing site. “If the majority of deportees were from Gujarat in the previous batch, why wasn’t the flight directed to Ahmedabad? The BJP is deliberately trying to defame Punjab,” he added.
Mann also took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who earlier in the day held high-profile bilateral talks with US President Donald Trump. “Is this his gift from the US?” he remarked, referring to the deportation of more Indian immigrants.
The latest deportations come as part of a sweeping crackdown on illegal immigration by the Trump administration, which has intensified action against individuals who entered the US through unauthorized routes, commonly referred to as “donkey routes.” Several Indian nationals, particularly from Punjab, have been affected by these stringent measures, raising concerns over the treatment of deportees and the political implications of their return.
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