The Indian government is set to work with Donald Trump’s administration to identify and take back all its citizens living unlawfully in the US, an early hit from India that it is willing to abide with the American president and avoid a trade war.
The two countries have recognised about 18,000 illegal Indian migrants in the US to be sent back, a. The actual number could be much higher than that, though, it is uncertain how many illegal Indian migrants reside in the US.
Like several other countries, India is also trying to appease the Trump administration and avoid the dangers of its trade threats. The control on unlawful migration has been a campaign highlight for Trump. Within hours of him assumed the office on Monday, the new president moved to fulfill that commitment as he issued an order to end birthright citizenship and mobilize force on the US-Mexico border.
In return for its cooperation, India aspires that the Trump administration would protect legal immigration channels utilised by Indian citizens to enter the US, specifically the student visas and the H-1B program for skilled workers. Indian citizens estimated for almost three-fourths of the 386,000 H-1B visas granted in 2023, as per the official records.
Any hindrance in taking back illegal US migrants could also impact India’s labour and mobility agreements with other countries. With a jobs shortage in India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has signed migration agreements with lots of countries in recent years, including Taiwan, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Israel and others.
“As part of India-US cooperation on migration and mobility, both countries are involved in a process to restrain illegal migration. This is being done to create more possibilities for legal migration from India to the US,” said Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for India’s Ministry of External Affairs.
“The latest deportation of Indian nationals from the US by a chartered flight is a result of this cooperation,” he added, citing to an October repatriation action.
India is a modest contributor of illegal migrants to the US, with its citizens estimated about 3% of all illegal crossings encountered by US border patrol officials in fiscal 2024, according to US Customs and Border Protection data. South American countries such as Mexico, Venezuela and Guatemala account for a far bigger share.
However, the numbers and share of Indian illegal migrants has been rising constantly in recent years. In particular, it is high at the less-trafficked northern US border, where Indians account for almost a quarter of all unlawful crossings and also the biggest share of unlawful migrants stopped at that entry point, the data show.
While the total number of unlawful Indian migrants in the US isn’t certain, a report published last year by the Department of Homeland Security estimated some 220,000 illegal immigrants from India living in the US as of 2022.
India has already sought to show a cooperative attitude towards the US border enforcement efforts, including toward officials in the Biden administration. In October, the Department of Homeland Security said it chartered a “large-scale” repatriation flight of more than 100 Indian nationals, building on the more than 1,100 Indian citizens deported during the previous 12 months.
Taking back illegal migrants could also emphasize PM Modi’s goal of preventing secessionist movements overseas, including the Khalistan movement, which seeks to establish a separate Sikh state on Indian territory. India has discouraged the movement, and officials believe some of the group’s supporters in the US and Canada are illegal migrants.