India open to repatriating its undocumented citizens in the US

Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said his country is open to repatriating Indian nationals who are staying in the United States without documents. The comments came after he met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington, during which illegal immigration was one of the issues discussed.

Noting that New Delhi has strongly opposed illegal immigration, he told reporters that "we have always had the position that if any of our citizens, who are staying here illegally, if we are convinced that it is our citizen, we have always been open to their regular return to India." He said this is the position that India takes with every country.

Minister Jaishankar spoke during a press conference in Washington on Wednesday, a day after meeting with Secretary Rubio.

President Donald Trump, at the beginning of his term, signed executive orders aimed at cracking down on illegal immigration and deporting those who are in the United States illegally.

Indian nationals made up the third-largest group of undocumented immigrants in the United States in 2022, behind Mexico and El Salvador, according to the Pew Research Center. Their number is believed to be as high as 725,000.

Analysts see India's proactive approach to facilitating the return of illegal Indian immigrants in the United States as a move to address one of the main concerns of President Trump's administration, as New Delhi prepares to confront much more complex issues, including trade and tariffs.

“Along with a host of issues where India and the United States differ, this is an area where India can demonstrate transparently that it is doing something, creating greater room for maneuver in other areas,” says Harsh Pant, vice president of the Foundation for Monitoring and Research in New Delhi. “In other areas, such as economics and trade, it is very difficult to do the things that the new Trump administration might ask India to do, and it would take time to do them.”

Minister Jaishankar said that New Delhi is currently verifying the identities of those who meet the conditions for deportation and that the exact numbers of illegal immigrants are not known.

The United States has identified about 18,000 undocumented Indian immigrants to be deported and for whom India will begin the process of returning, according to reports made earlier this week by the Bloomberg news agency, which cited sources with knowledge of the matter.

Deportations of undocumented Indian nationals from the United States were underway – a group of Indian nationals were repatriated from the United States in October, for example.

Minister Jaishankar also expressed support for legal immigration channels.

"As a government, we are of course big supporters of legal movement because we believe in the global job market. We want the talent from India and the skills they have to have maximum opportunities at the global level," he stated.

The H-1B visa program, which brings highly skilled foreign workers to the United States, has been a hot topic of debate in the United States in recent years, with some sharply criticizing the program for negatively impacting American workers. Supporters of the program say that talented workers bring benefits to American companies and employers. Indians, many of whom are professionals working in the technology industry, are among the largest recipients of H-1B visas.

Analyst Pant says India has a “bigger advantage” when it comes to H-1B visas. “On this issue, India is also getting support from companies in the United States. So politically, this is a safer issue for India because there is a domestic support base,” he said.

Billionaire Elon Musk is among those who have expressed strong support for the program. President Trump, who has criticized the program in the past, spoke out in favor of it last month./VOA