Broke and sad: 150 deportees return home from US

Their American dream shattered and huge savings wasted, nearly 150 Indians returned home broke on Wednesday after being deported for either violating visa norms or illegally entering the United States.

As they stepped outside the airport, one after the other, they appeared sad. Some said they felt dejected that they could not realise their American dream even after several attempts.

"This was the fourth time I have been deported," said Singh Jabarjung, 24, from Punjab's Bhatinda.

"I boarded a flight on May 15 and reached Mexico via Moscow and Paris. From there, I tried to enter California on May 16 but was caught by police and deported from Arizona," he said.

He said he has spent Rs 24 lakh in the four attempts and Rs 40 lakh on advocacy.

Lakshiwnder Singh, another deportee, said he had given Rs 25 lakh to an Amritsar-based agent to help him enter the US.

"He sent me to Mexico on May 2 via Moscow and Paris. They caught me while I was trying to cross the border and deported here from Arizona in US," he said.

The special aircraft carrying the deportees landed at the T3 terminal of the Delhi airport at 6 am, an airport official said. The aircraft reached India via Bangladesh.

Following paper work with the immigration department, the deportees have started coming out of the airport. These 150 Indians have either violated their visa norms or were illegal immigrants, the officials said.

On October 18, more than 300 Indians, including one woman, were deported by Mexican immigration authorities for illegally entering the country to sneak into the US.