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India is reportedly seeking to entice the Trump administration to safeguard access to key visa programs for its citizens with an offer to repatriate some tens of thousands of Indians who are illegally residing in the US.
Thus far, US officials have flagged 18,000 illegal immigrants from India they want to deport, though some believe the figure might wind up being higher, Bloomberg reported.
Historically, India has been cooperative with the US on repatriations, but the move seemingly comes as an overture to President Trump amid concerns that his administration will toughen up visa requirements and trade policy.
Late last year, elements of Trump’s base had fractured over the H-1B visa program, which creates an avenue for specialty workers to live in the US and fill key jobs.
About 72% of the 386,000 H-1B visas granted in 2023 came from Indian citizens, according to government data.
Amid the infighting, Trump revealed that he intends to back the program.
But there are other ones such as student visas that India hopes will be left open as well, per Bloomberg.
Then there are lingering concerns that Trump may ramp up tariffs against India.
New Delhi has a higher tariff gap with the US, eclipsing Mexico and Canada, per a Moneycontrol analysis.
Overall, illegal immigration from India comprised about 3% of border encounters, according to the US Customs and Border Protection.
However, illegal immigration from India into the US has remained at elevated levels over recent years, particularly due to increasing crossings from the northern US border.
The Department of Homeland Security previously estimated that around 220,000 illegal immigrants from India lived in the US in 2022.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with his counterpart, External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on Tuesday after getting sworn in as the nation’s top diplomat.
Concerns about illegal immigration also came up during the meeting, according to a readout from the State Department.
“Jaishankar affirmed a shared commitment to continuing to strengthen the partnership between the United States and India,” the readout explained.
“Secretary Rubio also emphasized the Trump Administration’s desire to work with India to advance economic ties and address concerns related to irregular migration.”
A spokesperson for India’s Ministry of External Affairs also emphasized that New Delhi and Washington have been cooperating on illegal immigration.
“As part of India-US cooperation on migration and mobility, both sides are engaged in a process to deter illegal migration. This is being done to create more avenues for legal migration from India to the US,” spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told Bloomberg.
“The latest deportation of Indian nationals from the US by a chartered flight is a result of this cooperation.”
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi had cultivated close ties with Trump during the latter’s first administration.
Trump has blasted out tariff threats against neighboring Mexico and Canada, as well as China.
The Post reached out to the White House, State Department and India’s embassy in Washington, DC, for comment.
