Stricter immigration policies are already in order as US President-elect Donald Trump is set to assume office in a month.
In a list drawn up by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), 1.45 million people are slated for deportation, among which 18,000 undocumented Indians are also included.
Over the past 3 years, about 90,000 Indians were apprehended trying to cross into the United States – illegally, most of these individuals come from states like Punjab, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh, according to the Times Of India.
For many undocumented Indians, the journey to legalise their status is fraught with bureaucratic challenges that have waiting periods stretching up to two or three years.
However, India is not the country from where the most number of undocumented immigrants turn up. The countries bordering the United States such as Honduras, Guatemala top the list with 261,000 and 253,000 undocumented individuals respectively.
In Asia, China leads with 37,908 undocumented individuals and India stands as the 13th with 17,940 of individuals.
In this entire approach of border security and stricter immigration policies, India has been classified as one of the “uncooperative” countries in the deportation process. Other countries in this list include Bhutan, Cuba, Iran, Pakistan, Russia and Venezuela. This lack of cooperation could further prove a challenge in diplomatic relations.
“Conducting interviews, issuing travel documents in a timely manner, and accepting the physical return of their nationals by scheduled commercial or charter flights consistent with ICE and/or foreign government removal guidelines,” ICE document cites
Since Trump has pledged to carry out the largest deportation process in American history, thousands of undocumented Indians with final orders of deportation will be sent back to India.