Indian Deportees Kept in Shackles for 40-Hour Flight Spark Outrage

New Delhi (JS) — Around 100 Indian migrants deported from the U.S. were kept in shackles for the entirety of their grueling 40-hour flight home, including during bathroom breaks, sparking outrage in India.

The incident has fueled anger just days before Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s anticipated visit to the White House to meet President Donald Trump.

Protests Erupt in India

Indian lawmakers protested outside parliament, some wearing shackles, while others mocked the much-publicized friendship between Modi and Trump. Meanwhile, members of India’s main opposition party’s youth wing burned an effigy of Trump in New Delhi.

S. Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal, a government minister in Punjab—where the deportees landed—urged Modi to use his influence to address the issue. “What is the value of this friendship if it cannot protect Indian citizens in need?” his office stated.

Shackled Throughout the Flight

The flight, the longest migrant deportation conducted using U.S. military aircraft under the Trump administration, left deportees feeling humiliated and mistreated.

“Our hands were cuffed, and our ankles chained before we boarded,” said 23-year-old Akashdeep Singh. “We begged them to remove the shackles so we could eat or use the bathroom, but they refused.”

Another deportee, Sukhpal Singh, 35, shared that the restraints remained on even during a refueling stop in Guam. “They treated us like criminals. If we stood up because our legs were swollen, they shouted at us to sit back down,” he recalled. Shackles were removed for women before landing, but men remained restrained until local police took over in India.

A Growing Migration Crisis

Many of the deported individuals had risked their lives to reach the U.S., driven by a lack of job opportunities in India.

Over the past four years, the number of Indians crossing into the U.S. illegally has skyrocketed—from 8,027 in 2018-19 to nearly 97,000 in 2022-23. Many families sell land and pay hefty fees to agents who facilitate their dangerous journey through Latin America.

“I left for a better life and future,” said Sukhpal Singh, a father of two. “You hear stories and see in movies that there’s work and success in the U.S., so I took the chance.”

As outrage grows over the treatment of deported migrants, all eyes are now on Modi’s visit to Washington and whether he will address the issue with Trump.