Treated like prisoners, traumatised, Gujarat deportee kin describe ordeal

Khusbu Patel, a 29-year-old woman from Gujarat’s Vadodara, was among 104 mostly restrained deportees who landed at the Amritsar airport 40 hours after they were put on a cramped military plane amid newly-elected US President Donald Trump’s sweeping undocumented immigration crackdown. She underwent hours of scrutiny along with the other deportees before returning home from Amritsar, over 1,200 km away, traumatised and withdrawn.

“My sister was treated like a prisoner. She is in trauma,” said Khusbu Patel’s brother, Varun Patel. He added they have not spoken much with her sister since she returned after a prolonged ordeal. “She needs rest,” said Varun Patel. He added his sister travelled to the US via Europe about a month ago and that the journey lasted four days.

Khusbu Patel’s family said they could never imagine the ordeal she underwent, maintaining she travelled to the US on a tourist visa. “We do not know why the US government deported her. She travelled on a tourist visa. Only they [the US government] can say what document she lacked,” said Varun Patel.