US deports 54 Haryana men, police probe ‘donkey route’ trail

The United States has deported fifty-four Indian nationals, most of them from Haryana, after they were found to have entered the country illegally through the “Dunki” route. The group arrived in Delhi on Sunday morning aboard flight OAE-4767 and were later handed over to the Karnal police.

Officials confirmed that thirty-five of those deported belong to Haryana’s Kaithal, Karnal, and Kurukshetra districts, while others are from Ambala, Jind, Yamuna Nagar, Sonipat, and Panipat. Most of the men are between twenty-five and forty years old. According to preliminary police reports, several of them had sold their ancestral land or family property to fund their journey and paid up to ₹45 lakh each to agents who promised safe passage into the United States.

These men had travelled through multiple Latin American countries, including Brazil, Ecuador, and Mexico, as part of the perilous “Dunki” or “donkey” route, before being detained by U.S. immigration authorities. They were deported in handcuffs and with leg shackles, a move that has drawn widespread criticism from families and observers who argued that such treatment was harsh and unwarranted. “They are not criminals; most of them are students and first-time travelers who went abroad chasing a better life,” said a relative of one of the deportees.

Reports indicate that nearly 2,500 Indians have been deported from the U.S. since January 2025, many of them for similar illegal entries through the Dunki route. The term “Dunki,” derived from Punjabi slang meaning “hop” or “jump,” refers to the dangerous and circuitous migration trail used by smugglers to send people abroad illegally. Migrants are first sent to South or Central American countries and then moved by land through forests, deserts, and borders to reach Mexico, from where they cross into the U.S. The journey, often presented as a shortcut to a better life, costs anywhere between ₹30 lakh and ₹1 crore and involves bribes, extortion, and life-threatening risks.

Reacting to the deportations, Haryana Home Minister Anil Vij said that strict action would be taken against travel agencies and agents involved in sending people abroad through the Dunki route. “These networks exploit innocent youth and destroy families,” he said, directing the police to investigate the agents responsible for such illegal operations.

The U.S. government has intensified its crackdown on illegal immigration, increasing the number of deportations of foreign nationals who cross borders unlawfully. Indian authorities have raised concerns over the manner in which deportees are transported, stressing that migrants should not be treated as criminals. Human-rights groups echoed this sentiment, urging both governments to handle such cases with compassion and dignity.

While the desire to seek a better life abroad continues to drive thousands of young Indians toward the Dunki route, the growing number of deportations and the financial and emotional toll serve as a warning that this journey often ends in disappointment rather than success.