DHS Conducts Removal Flight to the Republic of India

WASHINGTON – On October 22, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), through U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), conducted a large-frame charter removal flight to the Republic of India of Indian nationals who did not establish legal basis to remain in the United States. This week’s flight demonstrates the Department’s continued commitment to pursuing sustained cooperation with the Indian government and other international partners to reduce and deter irregular migration and jointly work to counter human smuggling.    

DHS continues to enforce U.S. immigration laws and deliver tough consequences for those who enter unlawfully. This includes swiftly returning those without a legal basis to remain in the United States, while encouraging the use of lawful pathways. Since June 2024, when the Securing the Border Presidential Proclamation and accompanying Interim Final Rule went into effect, encounters between ports of entry along the southwest border have decreased by 55%. In Fiscal Year 2024, DHS removed or returned over 160,000 individuals and operated more than 495 international repatriation flights to more than 145 countries—including India. 

“Indian nationals without a legal basis to remain in the United States are subject to swift removal, and intending migrants should not fall for the lies of smugglers who proclaim otherwise,” said Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Kristie A. Canegallo. “The Department of Homeland Security will continue to enforce our nation’s laws.”  

DHS regularly engages with foreign governments throughout the hemisphere and around the world to accept repatriations of their nationals without a legal basis to remain in the United States. This is one tool among many DHS uses to reduce irregular migration, promote the use of safe, lawful, and orderly pathways, and hold transnational criminal networks accountable for smuggling and exploitation of vulnerable people. Over the last year, DHS has removed individuals to a range of countries around the world, including Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Egypt, Mauritania, Senegal, Uzbekistan, the PRC, and India. As a result of these efforts, DHS removed or returned more individuals in FY2024 than any year since FY2010, and DHS continues to expand removal flights operations.