According to the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency, a US military plane landed on Wednesday in Amritsar, capital of the state of Punjab, carrying on board 104 Indians expelled by the government of President Donald Trump. Of the deportees, 19 are women and 13 minors, including a four-year-old boy and two girls aged five and seven.

The news outlet stresses that this took place just days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Washington to hold wide-ranging talks with Trump.

According to PTI, the dream of a better life in the US ended for the migrants with their return to India after facing long flights to South America, dangerous boat trips, difficult walks and harsh detentions at the US-Mexico border.

The news agency reported the experience of Harvinder Singh, who paid more than four million rupees (almost $50,000) to an agent for a promised work visa to the US, but did not get the paperwork he paid for.

Instead, he was sent to the US on several flights, first to Qatar and then to Brazil, then walked through the mountains in Panama, where he witnessed the death of another migrant. Then, along with other migrants, he was put on a small boat for a four-hour trip across the sea to the Mexican border; the boat capsized during the journey, killing another person, Harvinder recounted. During their ordeal, they survived on small portions of rice, he said.

Another migrant, Sukhpal Singh from Darapur village, also faced a harrowing experience during his attempt, travelling 15 hours by sea and trekking 40-45 kilometres through dangerous hills. “Those who were injured were left behind. We saw many dead bodies,” said Sukhpal, whose journey ended when he was captured just before crossing into the US. “We were locked in a dark cell for 14 days, never seeing the light of day. There are many more Punjabis, families and children in similar situations,” he added, advising others not to take illegal routes to travel abroad.

mh/llp/npg/lrd