Two days after Narendra Modi’s visit to the United States to meet his “friend” Donald Trump, the deportation of illegal Indian migrants began to intensify. Two American military aircraft carrying 228 men, women, minors and even infants landed in Amritsar, Punjab, on Saturday, February 15, and Sunday, February 16. A first repatriation had taken place on February 5, outraging Indian public opinion: the passengers were handcuffed and shackled. The latest arrivals reported similar traveling conditions.

It’s all the more embarrassing for Modi that the majority of migrants entering the US illegally via Canada or South America come from Gujarat, his political stronghold, which he likes to tout as an economic model. To avoid focusing the spotlight on the state, the government decided to land the planes in Punjab, a state run by the Congress, the main opposition party, which also provides, along with Haryana, many candidates for departure. The head of government of this northern Indian state, Bhagwant Mann, criticized this as an attempt to “defame” Punjab and Punjabis.

These expulsions bring to light two realities that the Indian prime minister strives to conceal. First, that of an economy unable to offer enough work and prospects to its young people – 10 million new entrants to the job market every year – who flee first and foremost to the US, in search of a better life. India represents the third largest contingency of illegal migrants in the US, with an estimated 725,000 people. Second, these expulsions underline the fact that Trump will not grant his ally any special status, either in terms of immigration or trade.

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