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With hopes of a bright future and a better life for their families back home, they undertook perilous journeys to the United States, only to return in shackles and with huge debts, stories of untold hardship and extortion -- both at home and in the land of their dreams.
On Thursday, a day after 104 illegal Indian immigrants were deported and landed in Amritsar in a US military plane, the men and women returned home, thankful their ordeal was over and wondering anxiously what tomorrow will bring.
Many of them had traversed treacherous "dunki" routes, crossing several rivers and forests of South American nations while facing extortion and getting roughed up, to illegally enter the US.
Becoming popular in common parlance following the release of Shah Rukh Khan's Dunki in 2023, it refers to illegal immigration that involves crossing borders through covert stops in multiple countries, mostly facilitated by agents.
Of these illegal immigrants, 33 each were from Haryana and Gujarat, 30 from Punjab, three each from Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, and two from Chandigarh.
Recounting the horror faced by 27-year-old Robin Handa, who was among the deportees, his father Manjit Singh said his son travelled across Guyana, Brazil, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador and Guatemala, crossed a sea and passed through jungles, staying hungry for days, to reach the Mexico-US border.
Handa, who studied till class 12, left his native Ismailabad village in Haryana's Kurukshetra district on July 18 last year and by the time he reached the US border, he had paid Rs 45 lakh to different agents while his mobile phone was also snatched, his father claimed.
He was handed over to the "immigration mafia" in Mexico and they tortured him for money. Here he gave them Rs 20 lakh, Singh said.
With the dreams of an improved financial condition in ruins, Singh now blames the travel agent for defrauding them with the false promise of getting Handa settled in the US.
Families of the deportees alleged that the travel agents adopted unfair means to facilitate the youths' travel to the US without their knowledge. They now seek strict action against these agents.
Among the deportees hailing from Punjab, Sukhpal Singh from Darapur village in Hoshiarpur had decided to move to the US after working as a chef in Italy for a year.
In Italy, he and two of his friends came in contact with a travel agent who promised them safe passage to the US for Rs 30 lakh each, Sukhpal told PTI on Thursday.
To pay the travel agent, he used his savings and borrowed money from his friends. The agent assured him of a flight to the US.
"Instead of being taken to the US, the group I was travelling with was taken to Nicaragua. Upon arrival, everyone's passports were confiscated by the agent's men and then began an arduous journey through Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico," Sukhpal said.
"It included a 12-hour journey in a small boat across the sea from Mexico to the US border in California. Tragically, one of my fellow travellers drowned during this dangerous journey," he said.
Sukhpal said, "Soon after reaching the US border, I and others were apprehended by US authorities and taken to a detention camp where we were held for 12 days."
He said they were treated badly in the camp, with no access to legal counsel or immigration officials. "Only snacks and beef were available. I survived on snacks as I do not consume beef," he said.
The detainees were handcuffed and their feet shackled before they were put on the flight to India. Sukhpal said those on the flight were not allowed to move from their seats and even washroom access was highly restricted.
"To avoid using the washroom, I barely ate or drank anything on the flight," he said, adding, "The shackles were removed after the flight landed in Amritsar and I was finally provided a meal."
Another deportee, Harwinder Singh (41) from Tahli village in Hoshiarpur, narrated a similar ordeal.
He left home on August 5 last year after striking a Rs 42-lakh deal with a travel agent who is also his distant relative. He was promised a visa to a European country and eventually a passage to the US. Once Harwinder reached Brazil, his family paid Rs 25 lakh to the travel agent as agreed.
Though he was told that he had a flight from Belem, he was forced to undertake a journey by road through Ecuador and Colombia, finally reaching Panama. There, he was forced to pay the remaining amount to the travel agent in India.
From Panama, he and many others were compelled to embark on a perilous journey through a dangerous 'dunki' route to enter the United States. Harwinder said that he was along with many others were arrested at the US border.
Having exhausted his family's savings for nought, Harwinder now demands help from the Punjab government to recover the money paid to the travel agent.
Daler Singh, who hails from Salampur village in Amritsar, too said that he was cheated by the travel agent who had promised to take him to the US legally. He, however, was taken to Brazil via Dubai and then had to traverse the infamous 'dunki' route.
Singh (37), who was a driver before deciding to migrate to the US, said, "I raised the money by borrowing from relatives and friends, besides mortgaging our farmland."
"I wanted to migrate to the US for a better future for my family," he added.
Pardeep Singh (22), who hails from Lalru in Amritsar, reached the US after travelling across countries for six months. He was arrested immediately after reaching the US border by the patrolling forces, his family said.
His parents took a loan of Rs 41 lakh to send him to the US. Now, they do not know how they will pay it back.
Harpreet Singh Laliya, a resident of Maharashtra's Nagpur who was deported from the US on Wednesday, claimed that he had planned to go to Canada but a mistake by his agent got him in ignominy with handcuffs and chains around his legs.
He also rued the loss of Rs 50 lakh he raised from banks and kin to migrate, besides enduring gruelling treks to get to the US and the gut-wrenching uncertainty that accompanied every step.
He travelled to Guatemala on flights with short stays in Egypt and Spain. From there he was sent to Nicaragua, and then to the US border via Honduras and Mexico. His ordeal included being "caught by the mafia in Mexico and held by them for 10 days", a four-hour mountain trek in that nation and then a gruelling 16-hour walk to the US border, Laliya told reporters.
Three Uttar Pradesh men -- Rakshit Baliyan (19) of Rasulpur Jatan village and Devindra Singh (38) of Marakpur village in Muzaffarnagar district and Gurpreet Singh (24) from Pilibhit district -- were among the 104 Indians deportees.
Rakshit Baliyan's father Sudhir Baliyan, a retired Army jawan, told PTI that his son had gone to the US seven months ago and was working in a private company.
Sudhir Baliyan, who owns 20 bighas of agricultural land, said his son would continue his education. "My son has passed his Class 12 examination. He will continue his education since he is interested in pursuing a BTech degree," he said.
Kulbir Singh, father of Devindra Singh, the other deportee from UP's Muzaffarnagar, said his son had left for the US two months ago. He was caught shortly after arriving in the US and remained in custody at a detention camp until his deportation.
Jayantibhai Patel, a resident of Gujarat's Vadodara district, could not hold back his emotions after seeing his daughter, who was deported from the US, reaching home safely.
Khushbu Patel (29) too was handcuffed during the journey onboard the US military aircraft which landed in Amritsar on Wednesday, her brother said, adding she had gone to the US on a tourist visa.
"She was deported for not having some documents. We don't know what route she had taken to reach the US. She is not in a position to speak now because of the 36-hour journey," he said.
Her father Jayantibhai Patel said, "I was under enormous stress. Now I am extremely happy that she has come back safely. Our Government has helped us in every way. I have no idea how she reached the US and what exactly happened to her there." he said.