New Delhi: To curb illegal immigration from India, the United States on Monday said it was imposing visa restrictions on the “owners, executives, and senior officials” of Indian travel agencies found facilitating such activities.
In a statement, the US Embassy stated: “The department of state is taking steps (Monday) to impose visa restrictions on owners, executives, and senior officials of travel agencies based and operating in India for knowingly facilitating illegal immigration to the US.”
It added: “Mission India’s consular affairs and diplomatic security service work every day across our embassy and consulates to actively identify and target those engaged in facilitating illegal immigration and human smuggling and trafficking operations.”
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The statement underlined: “We will continue to take steps to impose visa restrictions against owners, executives, and senior officials of travel agencies to cut off alien smuggling networks. Our immigration policy aims not only to inform foreign nationals about the dangers of illegal immigration to the United States but also to hold accountable individuals who violate our laws, including facilitators of illegal immigration.”
“Enforcing US immigration laws and policies is critical to upholding the rule of law and protecting Americans. This visa restriction policy is global and even applies to individuals who otherwise qualify for the visa waiver programme,” it pointed out.
15,756 illegal Indian immigrants deported to India from US since 2009
The US regularly deports illegal immigrants to their home countries, including India. In February this year, foreign minister S Jaishankar had told Lok Sabha that as many as 15,756 illegal Indian immigrants had been deported to India from the US since 2009. Parliamentary data disclosed that the highest number of deportations took place in 2019, with 2,042 illegal Indian immigrants sent back to the country. From 2009 to 2025, more than 500 Indian migrants were deported each year. Between 2016 and 2020, the annual number of deportees surpassed 1,000.
The Trump administration had stepped up visa regulations and issued warnings against rule violations. On Saturday (May 17), the US Embassy in India wrote on X: “If you remain in the United States beyond your authorised period of stay, you could be deported and may face a permanent ban on future travel to the United States.”
