Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reiterated India's intention of repatriating any confirmed Indian illegal migrants from the United States and increasing efforts towards halting human trafficking.
Addressing a news conference on Thursday after bilateral discussions with US President Donald Trump, Modi said, "India and the US have always been on the same page on this matter. Any confirmed Indian who is in the US illegally—we are fully prepared to bring them back."
Earlier this month, the US deported approximately 100 Indian illegal migrants on a military plane to Amritsar, and sources indicate that India has agreed to repatriate up to 18,000 people.
PM Modi highlighted that in addition to repatriation, it is important to fight against the human traffickers who exploit the weak, especially the poor. "Most of them are lured by false assurances and high aspirations, not knowing what awaits them," he said.
He called for an Indo-US joint effort to dismantle the human trafficking networks and added, "We must work together to weed out these traffickers from within the system so that we can curtail or get rid of human trafficking altogether."
PM Modi also emphasized the basic principle that illegal immigrants have no right to reside in any nation. "This is not just an India-US issue—it's a world problem. Anyone who enters a nation illegally has no right whatsoever to be there," he declared.
India itself has issues with illegal immigration from its own neighboring nations, providing another context to its strategy towards border control and immigration policies.
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