Enamoured by the American Dream, they left their homes and undertook perilous journeys, hoping to turn their lives around. They returned handcuffed with dreams cut short, huge debts and stories of how they were duped by travel agents.
A day after a US military aircraft brought back 104 illegal Indian immigrants, including 30 from Punjab, the deportees are staring at a bleak future.
Sukhpal Singh from Darapur village in Punjab's Hoshiarpur 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 he did not tell his family about his travel plans and was hoping to surprise them once he reached the US.
He had only told them that he would be out of touch for some time due to work commitments.
"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.
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, recalling the ordeal.
The detainees were handcuffed and their feet shackled before they were put on a flight to India, which landed at the Amritsar airport on Wednesday afternoon.
Sukhpal said those on the flight were not allowed to move from their seat and even washroom access was highly restricted.
"To avoid using the washroom, I barely ate or drank anything on the flight," he said.
"The shackles were removed after the flight landed in Amritsar and I was finally provided a meal," he added.
Jaspal Singh from Gurdaspur was also robbed of a chance to build a better life by a travel agent.
"I paid Rs 40 lakh to the travel agent to go to the US and give a better life to my wife and children. My dream was shattered after I was arrested at the US-Mexico border," he said.
"I had asked the agent to send me through a proper visa but he deceived me," he said.
Jaspal said he reached Brazil by air in July last year and was promised that the next leg of the journey to the US would also be by air.
However, the agent forced him to cross the border illegally.
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.
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