Newark incident | Young Indian restrained at airport entered US illegally, being deported

New Delhi: Two days after a video of an Indian citizen being handcuffed and pinned down on the floor at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey went viral on social media platforms, New Delhi learnt that he had illegally entered the United States and was in the process of being deported.

The Consulate General of India in New York learnt that the young Indian had entered the US without a valid visa. A US court had ordered his deportation to India.

But when the US law enforcement officers took the man to the airport to deport him to India, his behaviour was found “not conducive for travel”, was “restrained and admitted to a medical facility”, a source in New Delhi said, citing the information received by the CGI in New York.

“Once he is fit to travel, the individual will be deported to India. Our consulate in New York continues to remain engaged with the US authorities on this matter,” the source said.

The video of the man, who is from Haryana in India, being restrained prompted the opposition Congress to criticise the Union Government led by the Bharatiya Janata Party for failing to protect citizens of India in the US.

“I witnessed a young Indian student being deported from Newark Airport last night— handcuffed, crying, treated like a criminal. He came chasing dreams, not causing harm. As an NRI, I felt helpless and heartbroken. This is a human tragedy,” Kunal Jain, an Indian American social entrepreneur, posted on X recently.

Jain posted several pictures and videos of the incident. He wrote that the young Indian, who was being pinned down, had been crying and telling others that the US law enforcement officers were trying to prove him to be mentally deranged, although he was not.

“This poor kid’s parents won’t know what’s happening to him”, wrote Jain.

“He was to be boarded last night on the same flight with me, but he never got boarded. Someone needs to find out what’s going on with him. I found him disoriented.” Jain posted on X, tagging the Embassy of India in the US and drawing the attention of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.

The Ministry of External Affairs then took up the matter with the US Embassy in New Delhi. The Embassy of India in Washington, DC, and the Consulate General of India in New York also got in touch with the authorities in the US.

“We cannot and will not tolerate illegal entry, abuse of visas, or the violation of the US law,” the American Embassy in New Delhi posted on X on Tuesday, without directly referring to the man shown in the video. “The United States continues to welcome legitimate travellers to our country. However, there is no right to visit the United States.”