Latest news with #IndianNationals
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
India says over 1,000 nationals deported by US since January
More than a thousand Indians have "come back or [been] deported" from the United States since January, India's foreign ministry has said. Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that around 62% of them came on commercial flights, without providing more details. This comes in the wake of President Donald Trump's campaign against undocumented migrants to the US. Trump had earlier said that India "will do what's right" on the deportation of illegal migrants. In February, the US had deported more than hundred Indians on a US military flight, with reports saying some of them were brought back shackled. "We have close cooperation between India and the United States on migration issues," Mr Jaiswal said during the ministry's weekly briefing, adding that India verifies nationalities before "we take them back". In total, the US is said to have identified about 18,000 Indian nationals it believes entered the country illegally. Earlier this month, the US Embassy in India issued a warning that overstaying in the US could lead to deportation or a permanent ban on entry in the country, even for those who entered legally. Mr Jaiswal also spoke about the Trump administration's updated policy on student visas which is likely to impact Indian students planning to enrol in US universities. The US had announced on Thursday that it had halted the scheduling of new visa interviews for foreign students as it considered expanding the screening of their social media activities. "While we note that issuance of a visa is a sovereign function, we hope that the application of Indian students will be considered on merit, and they will be able to join their academic programs on time," Mr Jaiswal said. Mr Jaiswal also said that 330,000 Indians students had gone to the US for studies in 2023-24 - which makes India the largest source of international students in the country. On Thursday, expanding its new visa policy, the US further announced that it was working to "aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields". Follow BBC News India on Instagram, YouTube, X and Facebook
BBC News
2 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Trump: India says over 1,000 nationals deported by US since January
More than a thousand Indians have "come back or [been] deported" from the United States since January, India's foreign ministry has Randhir Jaiswal said that around 62% of them came on commercial flights, without providing more comes in the wake of President Donald Trump's campaign against undocumented migrants to the US. Trump had earlier said that India "will do what's right" on the deportation of illegal February, the US had deported more than hundred Indians on a US military flight, with reports saying some of them were brought back shackled. "We have close cooperation between India and the United States on migration issues," Mr Jaiswal said during the ministry's weekly briefing, adding that India verifies nationalities before "we take them back".In total, the US is said to have identified about 18,000 Indian nationals it believes entered the country this month, the US Embassy in India issued a warning that overstaying in the US could lead to deportation or a permanent ban on entry in the country, even for those who entered Jaiswal also spoke about the Trump administration's updated policy on student visas which is likely to impact Indian students planning to enrol in US US had announced on Thursday that it had halted the scheduling of new visa interviews for foreign students as it considered expanding the screening of their social media activities."While we note that issuance of a visa is a sovereign function, we hope that the application of Indian students will be considered on merit, and they will be able to join their academic programs on time," Mr Jaiswal Jaiswal also said that 330,000 Indians students had gone to the US for studies in 2023-24 - which makes India the largest source of international students in the Thursday, expanding its new visa policy, the US further announced that it was working to "aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields".Follow BBC News India on Instagram, YouTube, X and Facebook
Free Malaysia Today
3 days ago
- General
- Free Malaysia Today
Smugglers jailed for leaving Indian family to die in blizzard
The family of four was not found until the Royal Canadian Mounted Police discovered their frozen bodies. (Getty Images/AFP pic) WASHINGTON : Two human traffickers were sentenced today for their roles in a smuggling operation that resulted in the 2022 deaths of four Indian nationals, including a three-year-old and an 11-year-old, the US department of justice said. Harshkumar Ramanlal Patel, 29, was sentenced to over 10 years in prison for organising logistics and co-conspirator Steve Anthony Shand, 50, was sentenced to over six years for picking up migrants in the US. A jury convicted the duo for their work in a 'large-scale human smuggling operation that brought Indian nationals to Canada on fraudulent student visas and then smuggled them into the US', justice officials said. In January 2022, amid severe weather, Patel and Shand attempted to smuggle 11 Indian nationals from Canada into the US on foot, the DOJ said, adding the recorded wind chill temperature was -37.8°C. A US border patrol agent found Shand's van stuck in the Minnesota snow, where Shand claimed there were no other people stranded out in the cold. But five more people emerged from the fields, including one who was airlifted to a hospital for lifesaving care. Shand was arrested along with two migrants. But the family of four was not found until the Royal Canadian Mounted Police found their frozen bodies in an isolated area in Canada. 'The boy was wrapped in a blanket with his father's frozen glove covering his face,' the DOJ said. 'Every time I think about this case I think about this family – including two beautiful little children – who the defendants left to freeze to death in a blizzard,' said acting US attorney Lisa D Kirkpatrick.
CTV News
4 days ago
- General
- CTV News
Two men convicted after migrants froze to death on Canada-U.S. border face sentencing
A view of the landscape outside the hamlet of St. Vincent, Minn., looking north towards the Canada-U.S. border, is shown on on Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2022, not far from where RCMP officers recovered the bodies of four Indian nationals. THE CANADIAN PRESS/James McCarten FERGUS FALLS — Two men are to be sentenced today for their role in a human smuggling operation that saw a family of four freeze to death on the Canada-U.S. border south of Winnipeg. Harshkumar Patel and Steve Shand were convicted last fall on four charges related to bringing people illegally into the United States and transporting them. Court was told during one operation in January of 2022, a couple from India and their two children were left to walk across the border in an overnight blizzard on the bald prairie, as temperatures dropped below -20 C. Prosecutors say Patel organized the logistics while Shand would pick up migrants on the U.S. side in rented vehicles and drive them to cities such as Chicago. Prosecutors in Minnesota are seeking prison sentences of a little more than 19 years for Patel and 10 years for Shand. Shand's lawyer is seeking just over two years for his client, while Patel's lawyer has asked for a sentence below the normal guidelines due to Patel's circumstances and life history. The men's trial last year heard they were involved in several smuggling trips between Manitoba and Minnesota in December 2021 and January 2022, in which people from India were brought to Canada on student visas then sent on foot across the border to the U.S. The trial heard details of the deadly cold faced by a group of migrants the day Shand was arrested in a van on a remote road just south of the border. The temperature was -23 C and the wind chill dipped below -35. One migrant who survived the trek testified the group was driven to an area in Manitoba near the border and told to walk in a straight line in the dark, snowy night until they came to a van on the U.S. side. They were dressed in hats, jackets, gloves and boots designed for mild weather. The group got separated in the driving snow. Some made it to Shand's van after walking for hours, including one whose hypothermia was so bad she was flown to Minneapolis for treatment. Hours after that, the frozen bodies of Jagdish Patel, 39; his wife Vaishaliben Patel, 37; their 11-year-old daughter, Vihangi; and their three-year-old son, Dharmik, were found in a field in Manitoba just metres from the border. They were dressed in jeans and light jackets, and the boy's body was still in his father's arms. Vaishaliben Patel's body was found away from the rest of the family, up against a chain-link fence near an unmanned natural gas facility. Prosecutors said it appears she had left her family to try to find help at the only building in sight that night. Patel is a common name in India, and the family was not related to the accused. Shand's lawyers said he was simply a taxi driver who was offered money by Harshkumar Patel to pick people up in different locations and was unaware he was doing anything wrong until the day of his arrest. Patel's lawyers said their client was misidentified. Patel was only arrested last year, and his lawyers said that, unlike Shand, there is no evidence he was near the border. A jury found the men guilty on all the charges they faced. After the verdict, U.S. Attorney Andrew Luger said it was a case of 'unthinkable cruelty' in which the men valued money more than people's lives. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 28, 2025. Steve Lambert, The Canadian Press
The Independent
23-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Warning after huge increase in Brits caught smuggling cannabis out of Thailand
Officials in Thailand are cracking down on cannabis sales after cases of tourists attempting to smuggle the drug out of the country soared in recent months. Airport officials said they have tightened inspections to detect smuggling attempts, adding that most people found with cannabis in their luggage are foreigners, especially Indian and British nationals. Last week two young British women were arrested in Georgia and Sri Lanka for alleged attempts to smuggle cannabis after they flew there from Thailand. The UK government said a joint operation with Thailand in February resulted in over two tons of cannabis seized from air passengers. It said that since July last year, over 50 British nationals had been arrested in Thailand for attempting to smuggle cannabis. It also said there was a dramatic increase in the amount of cannabis sent to the UK from Thailand by post since the decriminalization in 2022. Thailand's experiment with cannabis decriminalization is now facing a critical juncture as authorities grapple with the challenge of regulating the industry while addressing growing public concerns. In 2022, Thailand made history as the first Asian nation to decriminalize cannabis, a move initially lauded for its potential to boost tourism and agriculture. The policy shift led to a rapid proliferation of cannabis shops across the country, injecting new life into the farming sector. However, this rapid growth has been met with increasing unease, with critics arguing that inadequate regulations have made the drug readily accessible to children and fueled a rise in addiction rates. The ruling Pheu Thai Party, responding to the growing public backlash, has pledged to recriminalize cannabis. This proposed policy reversal, however, has encountered significant resistance from its coalition government partner, a staunch supporter of decriminalization. The ensuing political tension highlights the complexities of navigating the social, economic, and legal ramifications of cannabis policy. Thailand's Health Minister Somsak Thepsutin said at a press conference that officials are aiming to roll out new regulations in coming weeks that will tighten control on the sale of cannabis, including requiring shops to sell cannabis only to customers who have a prescription. He emphasized that it is against Thai law to bring cannabis out of the country without permission from the authorities. In March immigration authorities and police said 22 suitcases filled with a total of 375 kilograms of cannabis were seized, and 13 foreigners, most of them British, were arrested at the international airport on the Samui Island. Thai officials said the suspects were hired to travel to Thailand as tourists then traveled to Samui, a popular tourist destination, where they would wait at the arranged accommodation to receive the suitcases with cannabis. They would then be instructed to travel from Samui to Singapore, and then from Singapore back to the U.K., where they would be paid 2,000 pounds ($2,682) upon completing the job.
