U.S. President Donald Trump has set a new benchmark in violating human dignity by deporting citizens from countries such as India, Colombia, Mexico, and Guatemala. Moving beyond his usual insulting tweets against undocumented immigrants, the Trump administration has now broadcasted these humiliations via video tweets.
The U.S. Border Patrol Chief, Michael W. Blanks, tweeted, “USBP and partners successfully returned illegal aliens to India, marking the farthest deportation flight yet using military transport.”
On February 5, around 104 Indians, including 19 women, were sent back to India’s holy city of Amritsar in Punjab on a 40-hour flight. They were reportedly chained and handcuffed, with only a single toilet available for all passengers.
India’s Minister of External Affairs, Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, defended the move, calling it a routine U.S. deportation procedure. While speaking in the Assembly, he stated, “The process of deportation is not a new one and has been ongoing for several years.” He also provided deportation data from 2009 onward. However, this is the first instance where deported migrants were handcuffed and chained, with their humiliation publicly shared via video tweets.
Despite this, India’s Foreign Minister failed to express any resentment toward the degrading treatment meted out by the U.S., which has equated Indian migrants with criminals. Randeep Singh Surjewala, a leader of the opposition Congress party, questioned, “Is this act a form of terrorism against India or a humanitarian act?” He further asked the Modi government, “How many of the prospective 750,000 Indian deportees are detained in similarly undignified conditions in American detention centers? What are their current conditions, and have they been provided with consular services?”
India’s opposition members have disrupted a session of Parliament over the degrading treatment of Indians during deportation, demanding answers from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government regarding its muted response.
Meanwhile, Colombia’s President, Gustavo Petro—a former guerrilla leader—became the first Latin American leader to challenge Trump’s mass deportation plans. He pledged to accept only those migrants returned on civilian flights, ensuring they were not treated “like criminals.”
Last week, Petro retaliated by announcing a 25% increase in tariffs on U.S. imports and stated that his government would not accept deportation flights from the U.S. until a protocol ensuring migrants’ dignity was established. He made the announcement in two posts on X (formerly Twitter), one of which included a video showing migrants reportedly deported to Brazil, walking on a tarmac with restraints on their hands and feet.
“A migrant is not a criminal and must be treated with the dignity that a human being deserves,” Petro stated. “That is why I returned the U.S. military planes that were carrying Colombian migrants… In civilian planes, without being treated like criminals, we will receive our fellow citizens.”
Taking a step further, Petro ordered his foreign trade minister to increase import tariffs from the U.S. by 25%. Last week, a Colombian Air Force plane left Bogotá with medical staff on board to repatriate 110 Colombians from the U.S.
On January 23, Mexico denied a U.S. military plane permission to land, temporarily hindering the Trump administration’s deportation plans, according to two U.S. defense officials and a third individual familiar with the matter. The Trump administration dismissed the refusal as an administrative error that was later rectified.
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