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Chandigarh/Amritsar/New Delhi: Lovepreet Kaur of Bhadas village in Punjab shudders as she remembers the month-long journey to the United States through a ‘donkey route’ and the journey back home through deportation.
Lovepreet recalls, “We reached the USA after several years of relocating. With hopes of being reunited with my husband and living a better life, we were devastated.” Lovepreet proceeds to explain, “On January 1, I set out from my house with my son and attempted to travel through Europe to reach the USA. To our surprise, we were captured and moved to a camp where communication was nonexistent.”
A narrative of despair and danger reveals itself in the story of Lovepreet (30) and her ten-year-old son who were among the 104 Indians deported by US authorities.
“I was snuck onto a plane without my consent. My hands and feet were restrained. No one bothered telling me where I was being sent for my deportation,” Lovepreet recounts, her words shaky.
They met their family in Bhadas village close to Begowal township at last. After being welcomed by the Deputy Superintendents of Police Daljit Singh and Bhulath Karnail Singh, as well as the Punjab Police, they were taken to their Amritsar Airport and subsequently their residence.
Over A Hundred Indians Faced Deportation After A Mother’s Desperate Journey For ‘American Dream’ Literally Led Nowhere.
Lovepreet Kaur meets rest of her family in Kapurthala, Punjab with her underage son. (ETV Bharat)
But the emotional homecoming is tinged with Lovepreet’s sorrow, grief, and pain as she struggles to accept the the American Dream is gone.
Deportee: Saw Dead Bodies: Crossed 18 Hills
The tale of Lovepreet and her child is not single out. The police claimed that only the Kapurthala district in the state of Punjab saw six deportations, including two young men from a village called Bariyar. There has been assistance provided to the deported individuals as well as their family members.
One of the Indian citizens that were deported and migrated to Punjab alleges, “They first took me to Italy.” “Then I was taken to Latin America. Our clothes which were worth thirty to thirty-five thousand rupees were robbed.” The deportee further explained, "We had to take a boat for fifteen hours, walk thirty-five kilometers and then we reach the United States.".
“We scaled up 17-18 hills... Today, Whoever slipped did not stand a chance to survive… We have witnessed a lot. If someone was injured, he was left to die. We've come across cadavers," he said.
Another family in Punjab’s Kapurthala claims that they were heartbroken when they found out their son Gurpreet Singh with a few others were being sent back from the United States after they had borrowed 45 lakhs to send him there.
