With 104 Indians who illegally migrated to the US deported by the Donald Trump administration, several tales of shattered American dream have come to light -- risky trips from one Latin American country to another, boat rides and donkey routes, imprisonment, starvation and ultimately deportation -- forcing them to start from zero.
Among the deported illegal immigrants, 33 each were from Haryana and Gujarat, 30 from Punjab and three each from Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh.
Jaspal Singh, 36, from Gurdaspur, recalled that he was promised to be taken to the US legally for which he paid Rs 30 lakh. However, he was sent to Brazil and six months later, the US Border Patrol arrested him 11 days ago.
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One of the deported Indians, identified as Harwinder Singh from Tahli village in Hoshiarpur district Punjab, revealed that an agent promised him a work visa and swindled him of Rs 42 lakh. He was later told that the visa could not be procured. Singh then had to fly from Delhi to Brazil via Qatar.
Though he was told he would be flown to Peru, he had to rely on taxis to Columbia and Panama. Again he was told that he will be transported on a ship but then he was forced to take the donkey route. He then hiked across mountains in Nicaragua followed by a risky four-hour boat ride on the sea to Mexico. The boat capsized midsea, killing a fellow migrant.
Sukhpal Singh from Darapur, Jalandhar district, had a different journey but equally risky. He had to travel by sea for 15 hours and walk 45 kilometres. He said that injured people were left to die and recalled seeing many bodies on the way. Later he was arrested by Mexican authorities near the US border. He was jailed for two weeks in dark cells and he recalled seeing several families from Punjab who met a similar fate. Many of these immigrants had to reportedly survive on rationed food and sometimes just water.
