The United States hired a chartered flight to deport Indian nationals who were staying in the country illegally, the Department of Homeland Security has said, noting that this has been done in cooperation with the Indian government. The charter flight was sent to India on October 22, the department said on Friday.

“Indian nationals without a legal basis to remain in the United States are subject to swift removal, and intending migrants should not fall for the lies of smugglers who proclaim otherwise,” said Kristie A. Canegallo, a senior official performing the duties of Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security.

The statement said the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) continues to enforce US immigration laws and deliver tough consequences for those who enter unlawfully and encourages the use of lawful pathways.

Since June 2024, when the Securing the Border Presidential Proclamation and accompanying Interim Final Rule went into effect, encounters between ports of entry along the southwest border of the US have decreased by 55 per cent.

In fiscal year 2024, the DHS removed or returned over 160,000 individuals and operated more than 495 international repatriation flights to more than 145 countries, including India, the statement said. It said the department regularly engaged with foreign governments throughout the hemisphere and around the world to accept repatriations of their nationals without a legal basis to remain in the US.

This was one tool among many that the US used to reduce irregular migration, promote the use of safe, lawful and orderly pathways, and hold transnational criminal networks accountable for smuggling and exploitation of vulnerable people, it said.

Over the last year, DHS has removed individuals from a range of countries worldwide, including Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Egypt, Mauritania, Senegal, Uzbekistan, China, and India.

Meanwhile, a day after the US homeland authorities announced the deportation of Indian nationals who were staying in that country illegally, sources on Saturday said it was a result of the cooperation on migration and mobility between the two nations. As part of this cooperation, both sides are engaged in a process to “deter illegal migration”, they said.

This week’s flight demonstrates the Department’s continued commitment to pursuing “sustained cooperation” with the Indian government and other international partners to reduce and deter irregular migration and jointly work to counter human smuggling, it added.

Sources said the move was a result of the India-US cooperation on migration and mobility.

This is being done to “create more avenues” for legal migration from India to the US. The latest deportation of Indian nationals by a chartered flight is the result of this cooperation, the sources added.

Such deportations “have been happening” for several years, they said. In the fiscal year 2024, the DHS removed or returned over 1,60,000 individuals and operated more than 495 international repatriation flights to more than 145 countries, including India, the DHS statement said.