A second round of deportations, which is a part of Donald Trump’s elimination of immigration programme, 119 illegal Indian immigrants will land in an American military aircraft on Saturday at Punjab’s Amritsar International Airport.

The C-17 US military aircraft is carrying 67 persons from Punjab, 33 from Haryana, eight from Gujarat, three natives from Uttar Pradesh, two each from Rajasthan and Maharashtra, and one each from Goa, Jammu & Kashmir, and Himachal Pradesh. The flight is expected to land around 10 pm- 11 pm IST.

Last week, the US deported 104 illegal immigrants to India in the C-17 US military aircraft which was also landed in Amritsar. As per PTI, the deportations will continue every other week until all the illegal immigrants are not sent back to their homelands.

The second deportation comes after PM Modi’s US visit where he met President Donald Trump. The two leaders discussed on some key bi-lateral issues ranging from trade to immigration. In a joint press conference PM Modi addressed that New Delhi will take back its citizens living illegally in America. He said, “They are shown big dreams and most of them are such who are misled and brought here. So, we should attack this entire system of human trafficking. Together, it should be the effort of the US and India to destroy such an ecosystem from its roots so that human trafficking ends…Our biggest fight is against that entire ecosystem, and we are confident that President Trump will fully cooperate with India in finishing this ecosystem.”

To be noted, there was an ongoing debate around the treatment of the deportees by the US government, being called unfair. Not only on social media, there was a controversy in the political arena as well, where the opposition demanded that the Centre should take a stand against the unfair treatment of the deportees. It was argued that the practice of handcuffing and shackling of deportees is excessive and inhuman for people who have committed no crimes except for immigration.

The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) however, justifies the handcuffing and shackling of deportees, as a security protocol that is used on deportation flights to prevent any escape attempts or disruptions.

The matter was addressed in the Parliament where External Affairs Minister (EAM) said that India is in contact with the US to ensure that the deportees are provided a dignified treatment. He emphasized on the fact that it is necessary to uphold the immigration laws, at the same time human treatment cannot be compromised.

The Trump administration is strict upon immigration, pressurizing the Indian Government to manage with their reintegration. India needs to curb illegal immigration, with some diplomatic negotiations as well as a strong management system at the border.