NEW DELHI: A US military aircraft transporting 104 alleged illegal Indian immigrants landed in Amritsar on Wednesday. The flight, which originated from San Antonio, Texas, included 30 deportees from Punjab, 33 each from Haryana and Gujarat, three each from Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, and two from Chandigarh, as reported by news agency PTI citing sources.
Footage showed a US military C-17 aircraft arriving at Shri Guru Ramdas Ji International Airport around 1.30pm, shortly after which the deported Indian nationals disembarked.
Th development comes as Donald Trump’s administration ramps up its aggressive stance on illegal immigration, with military planes now being used to deport illegal immigrants. The move, however, comes with a hefty price tag for American taxpayers.
Military aircrafts, usually reserved for war zones and disaster relief, come with a significantly higher cost compared to the typical commercial charter flights used by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
According to Reuters, one of these military flights is estimated to cost at least $4,675 (Rs 4.07 lakh) per deportee, a figure that is more than five times the cost of a first-class ticket on a commercial airline. In comparison, ICE deportation flights cost a far more affordable (Rs 55,000 per person).
As per Reuters, Acting ICE director Tae Johnson told lawmakers during an April 2023 budget hearing that deportation flights cost $17,000 (about Rs 15 lakh) per flight hour for 135 deportees and typically lasted five hours.”
A C-17 transport aircraft, which is used for these missions, costs an eye-watering $28,500 (Rs 24,90,559) per hour to operate, with the India-bound flight exceeding 12 hours in duration. This puts the total cost of one such mission into the millions of dollars, but as a US defense official pointed out, the exact cost is still being calculated.
The official added that despite the high price, the priority is to act swiftly following Trump’s national emergency declaration on illegal immigration.
Trump’s decision to use military planes has also sparked controversy abroad. Some countries, like Colombia and Mexico, have refused to let US military aircraft land to drop off deported migrants, with Mexico asserting its sovereignty and calling for coordination rather than unilateral action.
While the deportation costs are steep, Trump’s tough rhetoric on immigration seems to be driving the use of military aircraft. As he stated in a recent speech, the use of such planes sends a strong message to illegal immigrants and the world: if you enter the US illegally, there will be serious consequences.
“For the first time in history, we are locating and loading illegal aliens into military aircraft and flying them back to the places from which they came…We’re respected again, after years of laughing at us like we’re stupid people,” Trump had said.
India, meanwhile, has time and again reiterated its stance against illegal immigration. The Ministry of External Affairs on Friday had stated it will facilitate the return of Indian nationals “overstaying” or residing without proper documentation in the United States or “anywhere in the world.”
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