00:00I had become so ill-off because I didn't get a job.
00:03I tried a lot to get a job.
00:05I saw the police and the army.
00:09I used to do sports.
00:12I will settle down with my parents.
00:13My family won't be bothered by me.
00:16A flight from Texas to Amritsar.
00:19Not a ticket to the American dream, but a forced return.
00:22Humiliated, broken and in debt.
00:25The United States has deported 104 Indians,
00:29most of them from Punjab, Gujarat and Haryana.
00:36Daler Singh, Mandeep, Ajaydeep were among them.
00:40A young school graduate, Ajaydeep,
00:43dreamed of an American education, but had no legal way in.
00:47Families sell land, take massive loans,
00:50hoping their sons and daughters will build a better future abroad.
00:53Their paths were different, but they all ended in the same way,
00:57in chains and on a flight back home.
00:59Each had their own reason to leave,
01:01but all three followed the same dangerous road,
01:04the donkey route.
01:05I met the agent on video.
01:10He connected me on Instagram and told me
01:13he wanted to go to Spain and asked me to send him to a European country.
01:16I said, no problem, I'll send you.
01:18He gave me a tourist visa to Dubai.
01:20Then he gave me a visa to Armenia.
01:22Then he sent me to Serbia.
01:23I went to Spain in the 10th month of 2002.
01:26I stayed there for two years.
01:28I worked as a chef in the kitchen there.
01:32The donkey route isn't just one road.
01:34It's a web of uncertain paths
01:36where agents promise safe passage, but deliver nightmares.
01:40For many, it begins in states like Punjab, Haryana or Gujarat.
01:44These agents charge anywhere between Rs 40 lakh to Rs 1 crore.
01:49Families sell land, take massive loans,
01:52hoping their sons and daughters will build a better future abroad.
01:56I went to Armenia in a flat.
01:58It took me two or three days to reach Astoria.
02:03I crossed the Hungarian border in a pandemic.
02:07There was nothing to eat or wear.
02:09It's so cold in the Serbian donkeys.
02:12There was only a sleeping bag and food.
02:15The route often starts with a flight to a visa-friendly country,
02:18Brazil, Ecuador, Bolivia, Guyana.
02:21From there, migrants travel north through Latin America,
02:25facing jungles, oceans and human traffickers.
02:28For others, agents arrange direct visas to Mexico via Dubai.
02:32But even from Mexico,
02:34the final stretch to the US border is a game of survival.
02:37I went from a flat to Bolivia.
02:40Then Peru, Colombia, and then to Pernambuco.
02:46I went to Panama on a horse.
02:47Then I crossed the Chikad river.
02:49Colombia is a mountainous area.
02:51You have to climb a lot of mountains.
02:53You have to go by boat.
02:55The police arrested me in Mexico.
02:57My agent arrested me first.
02:59He was not an agent.
03:00His car was a donkey.
03:01He was a donkey.
03:02He didn't pay me.
03:06He didn't pay me.
03:07He kept me in a hotel in Mexico.
03:12He beat me up.
03:13He beat me up for nine days.
03:15He tied me up.
03:16I still have bruises here.
03:19Between 2018 and 2023,
03:22illegal migration from India to the US
03:25has surged from 8,000 to 7,25,000.
03:29India is now the only non-Latin country
03:31in the top five sources of undocumented immigrants in the US.
03:36The number of undocumented Indians in the US
03:38has grown by 70% since 2011.
03:43When we crossed the US border,
03:44we didn't have any immigration or marriage.
03:49We didn't have any marriage or immigration.
03:52We were not asked anything.
03:54We didn't get any granted number.
03:56We didn't talk to any lawyer.
03:58They kept us there for 14 days.
03:59They kept us there for 13 days.
04:01On the 14th day, they deported us.
04:03They told us where we were kept
04:06that people were released from there.
04:08Some people go to camps.
04:10We didn't know anything.
04:11We were told that people are released
04:12or go to camps.
04:13We didn't know that they would deport us.
04:14So we were deported.
04:16But why do so many Indians risk it?
04:19Because for many, staying in India is not an option.
04:22When I used to work, I used to pay 200 rupees per meter.
04:27I used to pay 500 rupees per meter for the electrician.
04:35I used to pay 500 rupees per meter for the electrician.
04:37I worked for two years.
04:40After that, I used to look at the uniform.
04:43I used to look at the uniform of the army and the police.
04:45I felt very bad.
04:46I didn't want to stay where I was.
04:49All my family members were upset with me.
04:53I was beaten up so much.
04:55My family members were happy that I came back.
04:58But I felt bad.
05:00Why did I come back?
05:01I troubled my family members so much.
05:03For me.
05:06The lure for America is simple.
05:08Dignity.
05:09Work.
05:09Money.
05:10Future.
05:14Even now, the cycle continues.
05:16Agents still operate.
05:17Families still bet everything.
05:19And for many, America will always be worth the risk.
05:22What lies ahead for the deported?
05:24No money.
05:25No land.
05:26No future.
05:27Only one certainty.
05:28Debt and the weight of the shattered dreams.
05:32I had some hobbies.
05:34I lost some of them due to unemployment.
05:36I was forced to leave my village.
05:38I was sent abroad.
05:40Today, I don't lack anything.
05:42I just yearn for my mother's love.
05:44My life is very beautiful.
05:46I left my village due to helplessness.
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