4 min readJalandharFeb 7, 2025 01:43 PM IST
First published on: Feb 6, 2025 at 04:22 PM IST
On January 2, Lovepreet Kaur and her 10-year-old son began a journey to the United States from Punjab filled with hopes of a better future. More than a month later, all those hopes were shattered as she and her son were among the 104 deportees who landed in Amritsar Wednesday on a United States Air Force flight. To make matters worse, she had allegedly paid an astronomical sum of Rs 1 crore to an agent for what was promised to be a direct route to the US.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Lovepreet, 30, a resident of the Bholath area of the Kapurthala district, narrated how she and a few others were forced to undertake a ‘dunki’ route, traversing several countries. “The agent told our family they would take us directly to the US. But what we endured was far from what we expected,” Lovepreet said as tears rolled down her cheeks.
“We were flown to Medellin in Colombia and kept there for nearly two weeks before being moved to San Salvador (capital of El Salvador) in a flight. From there, we walked for over three hours to Guatemala, then travelled by taxis to the Mexican border. After staying in Mexico for two days, we finally crossed over to the US on January 27,” she said.
The ordeal took a turn when the US authorities detained Lovepreet and others after crossing the border.
“When we arrived in the US, they asked us to remove our SIM cards and even small ornaments like earrings and bangles. I had already lost my luggage in the previous country, so I had nothing to deposit with them. We were kept in a camp for five days, and on February 2, we were chained from the waist to our legs, with our hands cuffed. Only the children were spared,” she recalled.
Lovepreet was particularly disturbed by the lack of communication during the 40-hour journey in the military aircraft, during which the deportees were not informed of their destination. “No one told us where we were being taken, and when we finally arrived in India, it was a shock. We were told at the Amritsar airport that we had reached India, but it felt like our dreams were shattered in an instant,” she said.
‘Family took loan to pay agent’
For Lovepreet, she was desperate to move to the US for a better future for her son. “I had hopes for my son’s future and a new life in the US. My family took a huge loan to pay the agent, hoping we would have a better future. Now, everything is destroyed. We were told we would be with our relatives in California soon, but now, I am left with nothing but pain.”
Lovepreet and her family own 1.5 acres of land in India, where she lives with her husband and elderly parents-in-law. She firmly believes that the government should take action against the unscrupulous travel agents who duped her and many others. “The government needs to get our money back from these criminals who promised us a new life but left us stranded in foreign lands.”
On the uncertain future, she said, “I wanted the best for my son, but now, I don’t know what will happen. I can only hope that justice will be done, and others won’t have to face what we did.”
Meanwhile, a police officer present at her place said her tale should serve as a painful reminder of the perils of illegal migration and the cost of false promises made by human traffickers.
Lovepreet Kaur, who was deported yesterday along with her son. (Express Photo) 
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