No US visa for travel agency owners, officials who facilitated illegal immigration

NEW new delhi: The US tell section on mon proclaimed visa restrictions on owners and officials of travel agencies in India who have “knowingly” facilitated illegal immigration to the United States, the latest in a series of steps by Washington aimed at tackling the issue.There was no immediate word on how many individuals and travel agencies would be impacted by the move, with the US state department signalling its intention to hold accountable people who violate American laws, including “facilitators of illegal immigration”.The move comes in the wake of the deportation of more than 300 Indians from the US in three military flights early this year – the first time that Washington used military aircraft for such an operation – and the deportation of some 50 Indians to Panama.There was no immediate response from Indian officials to the measure announced by the US state department on Monday.The US state department said in a statement that it was taking steps 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”.“We will continue to take steps to impose visa restrictions against owners, executives, and senior officials of travel agencies to cut off alien smuggling networks,” the statement said, noting that the visa restriction policy is global and even applies to individuals who otherwise qualify for the Visa Waiver Program. A spokesperson for the US embassy added: “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 US mission’s consular affairs wing and the Diplomatic Security Service “work across our Embassy and Consulates to actively identify and target those engaged in facilitating illegal immigration and human smuggling and trafficking operations”, the statement said. US immigration policy aims to inform foreign nationals about the dangers of illegal immigration and to “hold accountable individuals who violate our laws, including facilitators of illegal immigration”. Enforcing US immigration laws and policies is critical to upholding the rule of law and protecting Americans, it said. Earlier this year, the Indian government made it clear that it is opposed to illegal immigration because of its links to organised crime, and said that New Delhi will take back all Indians who have either over-stayed in the US or are there without proper documentation. External affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal also said the Indian side is willing to work with the Trump administration to address all matters related to illegal immigration.Jaiswal said it would be “premature” to talk about the number of illegal Indian immigrants in the US, but added that New Delhi “will take things forward” and facilitate the return of all such migrants. People familiar with the matter said on condition of anonymity that figures from the US department of homeland security suggested there are close to 18,000 illegal immigrants from India in the US, and that the American side had sent back close to 1,000 illegal migrants towards the end of 2024.