Gurpreet Singh, 39, thought he’d outrun India’s job drought. Instead, he landed in Trump’s crosshairs. On February 3, U.S. Border Patrol marched him—handcuffed, shackled, waist-chained—onto a C-17 in Texas, shipping him back to Punjab after a harrowing quest to reach America. One of roughly 725,000 undocumented Indians in the U.S., per Pew’s 2022 count, he’s now a poster child for Trump’s mass deportation vow.
It took 27 stops, from Mumbai to San Diego, and $45,000 scraped from land sales and relatives. Singh braved South American jungles, chest-deep rivers, and the infamous Darién Gap, where 50 died last year. He surrendered to authorities on January 15, banking on asylum to escape threats back home. But Trump’s new rules axed that shot—no hearing, just a swift boot after three weeks in custody.
The viral U.S. video of chained deportees, scored with triumphant music, lit a fire in India. Lawmakers raged at the “inhuman” scene, slamming Modi for not shielding citizens despite his Trump ties. Singh felt abandoned too, enduring 40 hours bound tight, even for bathroom breaks. India says it softened later deportations, but the message stuck: smugglers are ducking for cover, and Singh swears the illegal path to the U.S. is dead under Trump. Now, he’s home, broke, and hustling to support his wife, mom, and toddler.