Days after 104 deportees were sent back to India from the United States, stories continue to emerge of how some of these Indians fell victim to money-minting agents. Sukhpal Singh and Harvinder Singh from Punjab have similar stories to tell.
Sukhpal Singh was among those who returned from the US on board the C-17 Globemaster aircraft of the US Air Force on Tuesday. Sukhpal, who hails from Punjab’s Tanda, said, he was in Italy before he made his way to the United States on January 22. Speaking to CNN-News18, Singh explained how an agent in Italy assured him that they would take the legal route and asked him to seek a work visa in the US upon landing. He also added how he didn’t foresee such an issue as the agent told him they would be going to the US by air. “We were made to enter the US from Mexico," he added.
Singh stated that had the agent warned him of any such issue, he wouldn’t have gone to the US at all, adding how the agent was not responding to his calls after the deportation.
Singh had left India to work in Italy and was working at a restaurant there. He said his family didn’t know that he was going to the US from Italy, adding that he was taking a step toward a better future for his family. “I had two more friends in Italy and all of us decided to go to the US through this agent with the last name Gill. For the future of our families, we all left for the US," Singh said.
Singh said he spent Rs 22 lakh to come from Italy to the US. “I took help from a friend and also used whatever money I had earned while working in Italy," he said.
When asked if he was seeking asylum in the US, Singh said, “The agent asked us to seek a work permit when questioned by authorities."
Singh said that upon reaching the US, they were directly taken to a camp and were not told or asked anything. “We were then told that we were being released and we all felt relieved. But in the name of release, we were chained and put on an aircraft and they didn’t tell us where they were taking us. They brought us to India. Our phones were taken and reset upon landing here," he said, recounting his ordeal.
Singh added how the whole deportation left him and many others who returned, in shock. “One of my friends has left his home and doesn’t want to return. He is in shock and depressed," Singh said, adding that even though he had a valid work permit for Italy, he is scared of going back. “I will try finding work here in India itself," he said.
Harvinder Singh from Punjab’s Hoshiarpur was among those who were deported. A 45-year-old farmer, Singh said he spent Rs 45 lakh to make his way from India to the US for greener pastures. Singh left India in June and reached the US over six months later on January 15.
Singh, too, fell prey to an agent who, he said, had assured him that he would be sent to the US on a visa through the legal route. “The agent told me that we would first go to Brazil and from there, we would go to Nicaragua on a valid visa. When I reached Brazil, I asked the agent about the further course, and then he put me on the donkey route. I finally reached Mexico after 5-6 months of journey, from where I crossed the border on January 15."
He said that he also changed his mind in Mexico and asked the agent to send him back, to which the agent refused. “Upon reaching the US, they kept us at the border for 10-15 days and then told us they were taking us to the camps. They chained us and put us on an aircraft without telling us anything, and we landed back in India," said Harvinder Singh while
