"PM should have raised deportation of Indian immigrants in US": Congress' Kumari Selja

New Delhi [India], February 19 (ANI): Congress leader Kumari Selja on Wednesday said that the "issue" of the deportation of Indian immigrants from the United States should have been taken up by Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the US President during his recent visit to the country.
"The PM went to the US, and these are the issues which should have been raised. Did the PM raise this issue?" said Kumari Selja.
Earlier in the day, Gujarat Congress MLAs protested outside the State Assembly in Gandhinagar, against the deportation of illegal Indian immigrants from the US while being handcuffed and shackled.
Gujarat Congress MLAs gathered outside the State Assembly in Gandhinagar and shouted slogans like "Bharatiya ka ye apman nahi sahega Hindustan" (India will not tolerate this disrespect against the Indians).
Three illegal Indian immigrants belonging to Gujarat, who were deported from the US, were brought to Ahmedabad on Monday.
The third batch of 112 illegal deportees landed at Amritsar Airport on Sunday after US President Donald Trump's inauguration. On February 5, a US Air Force plane carrying the first batch of Indian citizens, who had allegedly migrated to the US illegally, arrived in Amritsar, Punjab.
Earlier on Saturday, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann assured that the deportees would be treated properly and that all arrangements had been made. The Chief Minister said the deportees would stay in Amritsar for a few hours before being taken to their respective states.
"Our kids are the ones who are coming here anyway, so from here no one can go hungry, we will make arrangements. We have also made staying arrangements for them. They will stay here for a few hours and then go to their respective states as the flights have been booked by the Ministry of External Affairs already," Mann said in a press conference in Amritsar on Saturday.
On February 13, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed India's willingness to take back its nationals if they live illegally in the United States and emphasized the need to finish the "ecosystem" of human trafficking.
PM Modi also expressed confidence that US President Donald Trump would fully cooperate with India in finishing this ecosystem.
"Those who stay in other countries illegally do not have any legal right to be there. As far as India and the US are concerned, we have always said that those who are verified and are truly the citizens of India - if they live in the US illegally, India is ready to take them back," PM Modi said, answering a query at the joint press conference with President Trump after their bilateral talks. (ANI)