From Dreams to Deportation

Deportation of Indians from the USA

Hundreds of illegal Indian immigrants are getting deported from U. S. A., and many more are at risk of getting deported.

In past few days, the news of the deportation of illegal Indian immigrants has been all over the internet, social media and news channels. Though deportation is not a new concept/action, mass deportation is making the news. The main concern is how inhumanely they are being deported.

Any country has the right to deport illegal immigrants staying in their country and using their resources and opportunities, leaving a negative impact on the natives (though the U.S. hardly have a native population now). India may do it too (or may not, if officials are paid their bribe). The only thing that did not go down with me was shackles along with handcuffs, and as per what news claim, a single lavatory for 100+ people on the flight. In my opinion, just handcuffs would have been enough for security forces to ease their work (and illegal immigrants are criminals there), but shackles feel a bit too much. This just gives the image of how Britishers brutally treated Indian freedom fighters in the Central Jail in the Andaman Islands for their Kala Pani ki saza.

A lot of Indians do not get jobs within their own country - either casteism & reservation, bad managers, lack of jobs, or discrimination in hiring - so they are helpless to illegally move to another country to make a living and for survival of their families. But this does not work in the long run as one is under constant fear of being deported, police brutality and gun violence (especially in U.S.A). Now, with the deportation, their American Dream comes to a halt.

Idealism of illegal immigration portrayed in the media

Shahrukh Khan’s movie Dunki explored the topic of illegal immigration. Though the speech of Hardy in the court is true from humanitarian perspective, unfortunately, it is not realistic to do so. Any country will probably care about its citizens - getting jobs, resources, safety- over immigrants. Though I wish there could be free travel between countries, as long as people behaved in a proper way and fulfilled their duties as humans (following basic etiquette), this unfortunately isn’t realistic to happen.

How illegal immigration can impact India’s passport ranking and Visa approvals

India currently stands pretty low in passports. Some Indian travellers make it worse by not behaving properly with the native population of the country they visit. Some male Indian “influencers” have been recorded passing disgusting & objectifying comments on the native women, dancing half-naked in the streets, etc. This accelerates racism and they misrepresent India. And these are just the recorded ones, we do not know how many others go unrecorded. Visa for Schengen is hard to get for Indians, and these people do not make it any easier. If tourists behave this way, leading India to lose its image and passport ranking in the world, illegal immigration would just make it even worse. Work/student, or even tourist visas will be hard to get for Indians.

How illegal immigration impacts India

Several illegal immigrants from our neighbouring countries have been staying in India, either depleting our resources, taking jobs meant for Indians, or worse, acting as sleeper cells. Remember Akshay Kumar’s 2014 movie Holiday? A lot of these illegal immigrants have been staying in metropolises like Mumbai to get jobs, where competition is cut-throat and resources are not sufficient for the overcrowded population. Mumbaikars are tired of immigration from other states and overcrowding, illegal immigrants is at a different level altogether.

Illegal immigrants also pose safety risks. Like how recently a Bangladeshi immigrant allegedly stabbed Saif Ali Khan. If those high-profile people living with security can be attacked, what about middle and lower-class people? Cities like Mumbai prides itself on (women’s) safety, but immigrants are changing the scenario. Of course, no city is 100% safe, but cases in Mumbai Metropolitan Region can increase as a result of illegal immigration. Mumbaikar women are already tired of domestic immigration from Delhi and Northern states as it leads to safety concerns, and we do not want more tension on top of this.

Just today, I came across a reel from Tripura, where girls were shooting a reel from the Tripura-Bangladesh border, mocking people trying to jump over the fence to illegally immigrate to India but failing to do so. Yes, the government of India can help the minority Hindus to get back to India to save them from the violence there, but take strict actions against the rest of Bangladeshis.

Unfortunately, I have no expectations from the corrupt politicians and officers in power to deport illegal immigrants. They might just take bribes and let them stay in India, causing harm to the natives. CAA was one hopeful measure to get illegal immigrants out of our country, but that did not work either.

Conclusion

So yes, U. S. A is not wrong to deport illegal Indian immigrants from their countries, though the future of 2nd generation immigrants with Green Card seems to be hanging in the air too. It is just they could’ve done it a bit more humanely, because despite being illegal immigrants, they did contribute in some ways to their economy.