From Snakes, Crocodiles To Trimming Beard: US Deportee Recalls ‘Donkey Route’

Chandigarh:

Promised a legal entry into the US, Mandeep Singh’s life was at risk after he was made to deal with crocodiles and snakes, trim his beard despite being a Sikh, and having to go without food for days.

But his dream to secure a better life for his family in Amritsar came crashing down on January 27 when he was arrested by the US Border Patrol while trying to sneak into America via Tijuana in Mexico.

Mandeep was part of 112 Indians to be deported by a US military aircraft that landed at the Amritsar airport late on Sunday, the third such batch of Indians to be sent back amid a crackdown by the Donald Trump administration against illegal immigrants.

The deportees’ arrived within 24 hours of a US military aircraft bringing back a batch of 116 Indians living illegally in that country.