Shackled and Shamed: The Human Cost of U.S. Deportation Flights

Punjab - In a stark manifestation of the U.S. administration's intensified crackdown on illegal immigration, a U.S. military aircraft recently transported 104 Indian nationals back to their homeland. This unprecedented use of military resources for deportation has ignited a firestorm of controversy and raised pressing questions about human rights and international diplomacy.  

Upon arrival in Amritsar, deportees recounted harrowing experiences of being handcuffed and shackled throughout the journey, with restraints removed only upon landing. Jaspal Singh, one of the deportees, shared that their handcuffs and leg chains were taken off only at the Amritsar airport in India.  

The political reverberations in India were immediate. Opposition lawmakers in India's Parliament protested the alleged mistreatment of the deportees, with some donning handcuffs in solidarity. They condemned the degrading treatment, calling it a violation of human dignity and demanding a discussion on the issue.  

While the U.S. government defends the deportations as necessary for law enforcement and border control, the incident highlights the desperate lengths migrants go to in pursuit of a better life. Many of these deportees had risked their lives on perilous journeys through South and Central America, only to face detention and eventual expulsion.