Gujarat: Congress to raise in assembly ‘mistreatment’ of Indians deported from U.S.

Congress to raise mistreatment of deported Indians from U.S. during Gujarat assembly budget session, accusing PM Modi of inaction.

The opposition Congress has announced it will raise the “mistreatment” of Indians recently deported from the U.S. during the budget session of the Gujarat assembly, which began on Wednesday (February 19, 2025). Sending back alleged undocumented Indian immigrants in handcuffs is an insult to the entire country, the party said and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of not taking it up when he recently met U.S. President Donald Trump.

On the first day of the budget session, Congress Legislative Party leader Amit Chavda and his party MLAs held a protest outside the assembly complex wearing handcuffs.

“The BJP is in power in Gujarat and at the Centre. Despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s tall claims, our youth is not getting jobs in the country. They are spending lakhs of rupees to enter a foreign country illegally,” Mr. Chavda told reporters.

The Congress allegations come in the wake of reports that several alleged illegal immigrants were sent back from the United States under harsh conditions. Some of them claimed they were handcuffed with their legs chained during the long flight.

“These youth were treated like terrorists on foreign soil. It was a matter of shame for all the Indians because these youths were handcuffed and deported to India on a military aircraft having no facility for food or sanitation,” Mr. Chavda claimed.

He said such “mistreatment” to Indian immigrants was meted out by the US despite PM Modi claiming to be a “good friend” of Mr. Trump.

Chavda claimed the government splurged taxpayers’ money on events like ‘Howdy Modi’ in Houston in 2019 and ‘Namaste Trump’ in India in 2020.