Handcuffs, chains part of deportation SOP, says S Jaishankar. What US rule says | India News – The Times of India

NEW DELHI: External affairs minister S Jaishankar on Thursday briefed Parliament on the recent deportation of 104 illegal Indian immigrants from the United States. Clarifying that the deportation process “was not a new one” and had been ongoing for several years, Jaishankar informed Rajya Sabha that a total of 15,668 illegal Indian immigrants have been deported to India from the US since 2009.
A day earlier, a US military plane carrying 104 deported Indians landed in Amritsar. Rejecting all the opposition’s charges, the minister also addressed the “handcuff” charges, Jaishankar said deportations by the US are organised and executed by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) authorities and “the standard operating procedure for deportations by aircraft used by ICE that is effective from 2012, provides for the use of restraints”.
“However, we have been informed by ICE that women and children are not restrained. Further, the needs of deportees during transit related to food and other necessities, including possible medical emergencies are attended to,” he said.
Also Read: Why Trump is using expensive military planes for deportation
During toilet breaks deportees are temporarily unrestrained if needed in that regard, the minister said, adding, “this is applicable to chartered civilian aircraft as well as military aircraft”.
“There has been no change from past procedures for the flight undertaken by the US on February 5, 2025,” Jaishankar said.

Is handcuffing deportees part of SOP?

First, let’s understand how the deportation process works in the US. According to NBC News, the process begins with an arrest.
This could happen during a routine traffic stop, a workplace raid, or, in the case of individuals with criminal histories, a raid at the house.
Following the arrest, immigrants are transferred to an ICE detention facility, which may be local or a few hours away. ICE currently operates over 100 facilities in the US with the capacity to hold up to 41,500 individuals.
Also Read: ‘We were handcuffed and in shackles, did not know was going to India’
Immigrants who have arrived in the US within the past two years may face expedited removal, bypassing an immigration judge and being deported within weeks. Those who have been in the country longer could face years of legal proceedings before deportation for now.
If a judge issues a “final order of removal,” the individual is typically flown to one of four staging locations along the southwest border—Mesa, Arizona; Alexandria, Louisiana; and San Antonio and Harlingen, Texas — either on a commercial airline or one of ICE’s 10 planes. At these staging facilities, detainees stay for a few days before being transported back to the airport for deportation.
The Trump administration, however, has also started using military planes to deport immigrants. One such aircraft, the C-17 Globemaster, landed in Amritsar with 140 Indian deportees.

What are the SOPs inside the flight?

‘Indians insulted’ – Opposition protests in Parliament

Both the Houses, however, saw several disruptions by the opposition over the treatment of Indians sent back from the US.
Earlier in the day, opposition leaders, including Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Akhilesh Yadav and those from the Left parties, protested by staging a demonstration in Parliament complex.
Also Read: Anger, confusion, debt – A worrying future for 104 deported Indians
Some of the opposition leaders protested while wearing handcuffs.

Carrying placards that read “Humans. Not prisoners”, the opposition leaders said they would not tolerate the insult to India and raised slogans such as “Indians insulted. India won’t stay silent” against the government.
“We, the INDIA parties, shall not tolerate the humiliation of Indian nationals,” they said.