Trump Govt targets 270 Indians in US for deportation, India demands more info to establish they're Indian nationals

The Donald Trump administration is targeting more than 270 Indians illegally living in the United States for deportation and has recently informed the development to India, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj has said.

Swaraj, while speaking during a question period in Parliament, said on Thursday that the Indian government has asked US to provide further information before taking a decision on deportations.

“Until we verify the nationalities of these people, how do we believe the claims in the list?” Swaraj said. “We have asked the U.S. government for more information and told them that we will give an emergency certificate for their deportation only after establishing their Indian nationalities.”

ALSO READ | Trump's immigration plans could impact nearly 300,000 Indian-Americans

There was no immediate response from the Trump administration on the purported deportation plan.

The number of unauthorized immigrants in US born in India rose by about 1,30,000 between 2009-2014 and reached to an estimated 500,000 people, according to a September report from the Pew Research Center in Washington.

ALSO READ | US judge stops deportations under Trump’s immigration order

Many of the unauthorized immigrants from India and elsewhere in Asia arrived in US with legal status and they overstayed their visas, according to Department of Homeland Security statistics, the report’s authors noted.