KATHMANDU, March 5: The months-long arduous journey of nine Nepali nationals to the US ended without realizing their dreams of entering the ‘land of opportunities’ as the Trump administration deported them back to their homeland on Wednesday.
A preliminary police investigation has revealed that none of the deportees, who paid hefty amounts to unscrupulous agents, even got a chance to enter the US despite having reached the border via the ‘donkey route’ through central America.
Police sources say they risked their lives through the infamous Durien gap in an attempt to illegally trespass into the US but were detained at the border.
According to the Anti Human Trafficking Bureau (AHTB) of the Nepal Police, eight of the individuals (seven men and a woman) were deported back to Nepal via a chartered flight while the remaining one woman was deported through a commercial flight.
Superintendent of Police (SP) Narendra Kunwar at the AHTB told Republica that the deportees reported that they were detained from various locations along the US-Mexico border five to nine months ago during the Joe Biden administration.
“The deportees told us that it took them 5-6 months to reach the US via the ‘donkey route’ which includes a foot journey through central America crossing the Darien gap,” SP Kunwar said, “However, once they reached the US border, they were detained by the US authorities and kept in custody for five to nine months.” The Durien gap that the illegal immigrants use to reach the US is a 60-mile long stretch of dangerous rainforest on the border of Colombia and Panama which has reportedly claimed the lives of more than 130 migrants since 2021.
SP Kunwar added that the deportees also disclosed that they paid between Rs 4 million to Rs 7 million to ‘agents’ to arrange the journey to the US border. “Not a single one of the deportees revealed the name of the agent,” he said, “Perhaps due to a prior understanding or due to fear of the agents themselves.”
He cautioned that the deportation should not cause fear among legally migrated Nepali nationals residing in the US as all of the deportees who returned to Nepal on Wednesday had attempted to enter the US illegally.
“The first point to be considered is that none of them had legal documents, the second point is that they were detained by the US authorities along the border and not by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE),” SP Kunwar said, “Finally, they were not detained by the Donald Trump Administration.” However, he added that the Trump administration seems to be responsible for the fast-track deportation.
According to the AHTB, all the nine deportees have been handed over to their relatives after questioning at the bureau.