US: Imposing visa curbs on Indian travel agencies facilitating illegal immigration

The US Department of State is “taking steps today to impose visa restrictions on owners, executives, and senior officials of travel agencies based and operating in India for knowingly facilitating illegal immigration to the United States,” it said.

The statement added that the US will “continue to take steps to impose visa restrictions against owners, executives, and senior officials of travel agencies to cut off alien smuggling networks”.

“Our immigration policy aims not only to inform foreign nationals about the dangers of illegal immigration to the United States but also to hold accountable individuals who violate our laws, including facilitators of illegal immigration,” the State Department said, adding that enforcing US immigration laws and policies is critical to upholding the rule of law and protecting Americans.

It said this visa restriction policy is global and even applies to individuals who otherwise qualify for the Visa Waiver Programme.

When asked about the travel agencies and people against whom visa restrictions have been enforced, a US embassy official in New Delhi said the details cannot be provided.

“We cannot provide a list of individuals or travel agencies the United States is taking steps to impose visa restrictions on due to visa record confidentiality,” the official added.

Illegal immigration has been identified by the American right as the primary reason for the poor law-and-order situation in the country.

Indian officials have told their American interlocutors that India is ready to take back immigrants who have entered the US illegally. This is a low-cost give for New Delhi — its priority is to ensure that the 20,000 illegal immigrants who are set to be deported as part of Trump’s mass deportation plans do not constrict any legal channels for Indians to travel to the US.

In February this year, planes full of Indians who had gone to the US illegally were sent back, starting with a military plane with 200 Indians. There was criticism of Indians being in shackles and handcuffs, and the government had said that it has been a practice for the last at least 13 years.

According to the Ministry of External Affairs’ statement in the parliament in April, “issues pertaining to mobility and migration are discussed from time to time by Governments of India and the USA, including where necessary, at the Ministerial level. Government also takes up concerns on streamlining legal mobility of students and professionals, while facilitating short-term tourist and business travel. Bilateral discussions also address illegal immigration and human trafficking through strong action against bad actors, criminal facilitators, and illegal immigration networks.”

It said that during the recent visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Washington DC in February this year, the two sides had underlined the evolution of the world into a global workplace and called for facilitating secure and mutually beneficial mobility frameworks between the two countries.

Officials said that the actions by the US are in sync with the approach so that people who are lured by the travel agencies to go overseas — by paying hefty sums of money — are not sent there. So, the actions are aimed at the agencies who facilitate such practices.