External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said that India has no difficulty in taking back undocumented Indian immigrants to the United States.
Jaishankar said this in response to a question from reporters on President Trump’s immigration deportation program during his visit to the United States on Wednesday. He candidly informed that the Government of India always has a positive attitude towards the return of Indian immigrants to their country.
Trump has been implementing a series of tough immigration and citizenship policies since taking office as president of the United States. He signed several executive orders on immigration on his first day in office. Many Indians will also fall under this. That is why many Indian immigrants are now worried.
It was in this situation that journalists asked Jaishankar whether India would take back illegal Indian immigrants if the US expelled them.
Quoting Jaishankar, the Indian media “The Hindu” wrote, New Delhi is scrutinizing the issue of who will be taken back to the country without documents from the United States. But Jaishankar also said that the exact number of people who will be returned has not been determined yet.
However, according to the British media “The Guardian”, India can take back 18 thousand illegal immigrants from the United States.
India’s Foreign Minister Jaishankar said at a press conference in Washington, “As a policy maker of a country, we must support legal immigrants. We want Indian talent to get maximum opportunities at the international level. But at the same time we are strongly against illegal movement and illegal immigration.”
He further said, “India follows the same policy as all countries on illegal immigration. There is no change in that policy in the case of the United States.
“We have always said, if there are any Indian citizens in the US who have not been there legally, we will not mind taking them back. I have made our position clear to US Secretary of State Rubio.”
It may be noted that about 18,000 Indians are either undocumented or overstaying their visas in the United States.