US Sends Back 205 Illegal Indian Immigrants Aboard US Air Force’s C-17 Aircraft, Tariff Whip Next

Less than a month since Donald Trump’s return to power in the US, Washington has already cracked the whip on India by sending illegal immigrants back through a military aircraft

File image of PM Narendra Modi with US President Donald Trump.

Source : Getty Images

US-India Ties: Washington is sending back 205 illegal Indian immigrants through a United States Air Force C-17 Globemaster aircraft, in an unprecedented move. The aircraft took off from the US Air Force base in San Antonio, Texas, and each of the immigrants was checked beforehand by an Indian embassy official, ABP Live has learnt. 

According to highly placed sources, amid Trump’s ongoing crackdown on unauthorised immigration, this is the first such flight of Indian nationals who went to the US using illegal means. While Indians have been deported before, this is the first time the US government is using a military aircraft with American military personnel for the exercise.

Cracking the whip on India, the Trump administration also made sure that each and every individual who got on board the aircraft was thoroughly checked not only by the US authorities but also by Indian officials, sources said.

Before this, the US had conducted similar deportation flights for Guatemala, Peru and Honduras, among other countries.

The move comes as a “major embarrassment” to the Indian government as the flight of immigrants is being sent just weeks before Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to embark on his first official visit to the US since Trump’s return as President. The issue of Indian immigrants entering the US illegally is going to be high on the agenda of the Trump officials, said another source.

Trump took charge of office on January 2o. Since then, he has not only threatened India with sending back illegal Indian immigrants, but also on coming down heavily on New Delhi on two-way trade by imposing tariffs on Indian merchandise exports.

“The United States is vigorously enforcing its border, tightening immigration laws, and removing illegal migrants. These actions send a clear message: illegal migration is not worth the risk,” said a US Embassy spokesperson in New Delhi.

Some unconfirmed reports suggested that the US is sending the Indian immigrants handcuffed, while some are tied with shackles.

US To Now Take Action On Trade 

The US is considered to be one of India’s closest strategic partners.

The Modi government, sources said, is apprehensive of the fact that, during the PM's visit to the US, the Trump administration may seek to demand substantial trade concessions from India even as Trump has labelled India “tariff king”.

In a bid to calm the US, the Modi government cut import tariffs on a slew of items — from electronic products to high-end motorbikes and textiles — in the Union Budget of 2025-26 announced on 1 February. 

In their first conversation after Trump became the President, the US asked India to buy more American weaponry.

During Trump’s first tenure, he repeatedly sought to call India out for imposing higher tariffs on Harley Davidson motorbikes. The US has announced imposing steep tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China as well. While he has halted the decision on the first two, with China, the trade war has begun.

Tuhin Kanta Pandey, Finance Secretary, said in an interview earlier this week, “We are signalling that India is not a tariff king… Our message is clear, don’t get into protectionist mode.”

New Delhi, sources said, is also hoping to broach the idea of finalising a trade deal with the US — an unfinished agenda from Trump’s first term.

Michael Kugelman, Director of the South Asia Institute at the Washington-based Wilson Center, told ABP Live from Washington DC, “There will be across-the-board support for a trade deal with India in the new Trump administration, obviously as long as the terms are OK. It will make a lot of sense for India to try to pursue a deal with the US to allow both countries to bring down their tariffs and to avoid the possibility of harsher tariffs being slapped on India because, economically, that’s something they cannot afford now.”

During his previous tenure from 2017 to 2021, Trump had repeatedly raised concerns of the US’ trade deficit with India, which currently stands at nearly $36 billion, according to official statistics.

In 2018, his administration imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from other countries, including India, citing national security concerns. In 2019, Washington took the drastic step of removing India from the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) programme, under which its exports used to receive trade benefits worth $6 billion. 

Kenneth I. Juster, Former U.S. Ambassador to India, told ABP Live in an interview earlier that a free trade agreement between both countries will enable India to fight China’s economic primacy in the Asian region.

“President Trump has said he will put tariffs on India, he believes in the principle of reciprocity, there is a large trade deficit that the United States has with India and the President believes that India’s tariffs are among the highest, and these are the highest applied tariffs amongst G20 countries, and he’s going to lower that in some sectors,” said Juster.

Juster also said, “President Trump and Prime Minister Modi can put the political will behind trying to reach an agreement that will further maximise what we get from bilateral trade, and also be a strategic element in responding to China’s economic primacy in the region”.