Haryana Minister Anil Vij on Thursday defended US President Donald Trump’s decision to deport illegal immigrants, stating that the nation has its complete right to expel those who enter its territory illegally.
His comments followed the deportation of 104 illegal Indian immigrants from various states, who arrived at Amritsar airport on Wednesday aboard a US military aircraft. This marked the first group of Indians deported under the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration, a policy it committed to enforcing since taking office last month.
“If a person goes to another country illegally, then that nation has every right to expel them. And Trump did not make any mistake, “Anil Vij told news agency PTI in response to Punjab’s NRI Affairs Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal’s request for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss the issue with the US president.
Vij further stated, “I say take a cue from it. Lakhs of people are illegal in this country… They were born somewhere else, but we feed them. They should be sent back to their respective countries.”
Among the 104 deportees, 33 were from Haryana, 33 from Gujarat, 30 from Punjab, three from Maharashtra, three from Uttar Pradesh, and two from Chandigarh.
On Wednesday, Punjab Minister Dhaliwal urged Prime Minister Modi to intervene and speak to his “friend,” US President Trump, regarding the deportation of Indian nationals.
Bhagwant Mann On Indians’ Deportation
In a separate development, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday sharply reacted to the handcuffing and chaining of Indians. He also condemned the Haryana government for transporting them in prisoner vans from Amritsar.
Taking on X, Mann expressed his anger at the way the deportees were treated after arriving in India. He added that instead of applying ointment to the wounds of Indians deported from America who are mentally and economically devastated, the BJP lead-Haryana government taking them in police prisoner vans is like rubbing salt in the wounds.
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