Harjit Kaur Among 2,400 Indians Sent Back From US This Year: Foreign Ministry

Since the beginning of this year, more than 2,400 Indians have been sent back from the United States, the Ministry of External Affairs confirmed on Friday.

The matter resurfaced after American officials deported Harjit Kaur, a 73-year-old Sikh woman from Punjab who had been residing in the US for nearly thirty years.

MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal reiterated that India does not support unlawful migration and instead seeks to create avenues for safe and legal movement of its citizens.

VIDEO | On Deportations from USA, MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal says, "In the last several months, since January 2025, so far, we've had 2,417 Indian nationals deported or repatriated from the United States. In the case of Harjeet Kaur, she also returned recently. We want to… pic.twitter.com/KG8QF8IjQG

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) September 26, 2025

According to him, between January 20 and September 25, US authorities returned a total of 2,417 Indians, and that Kaur also returned recently.

Jaiswal explained that whenever an Indian is found living abroad without proper documentation, and their citizenship is verified, they are accepted back by New Delhi. "We want to promote legal pathways for migration. At the same time, India stands against illegal migration," he said.

He added that once background checks confirm nationality, deported individuals are repatriated. "Because, then we are in a position to take them back. This is what has been happening with the deportations from the US. As far as visa fraud cases and other such matters are concerned, we want to promote legal migration from India," Jaiswal said.

"At the same time, we want to see how best we can clamp down on illegal migration because that undermines our efforts to promote legal migration," he added, stressing that the Centre is also coordinating with states to curb visa rackets and illegal migration networks.

Who is Harjit Kaur?

Harjit Kaur settled in the US over three decades ago with her sons after her husband's death.

She worked in California's Bay Area and filed multiple asylum requests over the years, all of which were rejected. Her situation sparked outrage in the US, with hundreds gathering in California to demand her release.

Her granddaughter, Sukhdeep Kaur, described her as the epitome of the American dream. She was "everyone's grandma" - a "mother figure [to the community who] is independent, selfless, hard-working," Sukhdeep Kaur told Berkeleyside, a nonprofit news portal. 

Details of her deportation

On September 8, Kaur was stopped by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers during a routine check. She was handcuffed, transferred in a van to Georgia on September 19th under reportedly harsh circumstances, and kept in custody without her lawyer or family being notified. Within 48 hours, ICE flew her back to India.