Turban thrown in dustbin, tortured in US detention camp: Deportee recounts horror

Jatinder Singh, one of the 112 illegal Indian immigrants sent back from the US to Amritsar on Sunday, recounted his experience during his two-week period at a detention camp, stating he faced torture and lacked adequate food. He claimed that the US Army discarded his turban (dastar) in the trash after obliging him to remove it.

Singh, 23, mentioned he aims to relocate overseas for work to provide for his family because of the scarcity of job prospects in Amritsar. He also claimed that he was in handcuffs for approximately 36 hours on the US military plane that returned him and 111 undocumented Indians to Amritsar on Sunday night.

“I was sent to a detention camp for two weeks after I was caught entering the US border on November 27 last year. I left home on September 12 last year. At the detention camp, they made me remove my turban despite my objection. They said it was their rule and threw the turban in the dustbin,” he told in an exclusive interview.

He claimed that the US Army turned on the air conditioner at a low temperature and increased the heater power, which resulted in his skin being dry. “I did not have proper food there at all. They only gave me just Lay’s chips and Frooti juice two times a day,” he said.

Jatinder Singh said he came in contact with an agent in November 2024 on the advice of his friends and paid him Rs 50 lakh after he was promised to take him to the US. “My family sold all the land they had (1.3 acres) and I gave Rs 22 lakh to the agent in advance. I also sold off the jewelleries of my two married sisters and paid the remaining amount to the agent,” he said.

Asked whether he was not aware that undertaking a risky journey to the US would lead to deportation, Jatinder Singh said, “The agent said there would be no issues. He said he had the experience of ensuring illegal immigrants crossed the border safely without being caught.”

He stressed that the jungles of Panama were very dense and that he saw the bodies of illegal immigrants, which he said, was a “depressing” sight to watch.

“The agent cheated me and he fled halfway. It took me three days to cross the Panama jungles. When I finally crossed the US border, the border police caught me and kept me in a detention camp where I was tortured,” he said.

Jatinder Singh claimed that he was kept in shackles on the US military plane and asserted that men and children were not restrained  during the 36-hour flight.

“My hands were handcuffed and legs tied. We faced issues related to food and access to the washroom. They opened our shackles 10 minutes before the flight landed,” he said, adding he would now look for a job in India and never go abroad.

Worries regarding the treatment of deported Indian immigrants escalated earlier this month when a US Air Force aircraft with 104 deportees arrived in Amritsar on February 5. Several individuals on board reported being handcuffed at their wrists and ankles throughout the flight and were only released upon their arrival in India.

In response to the controversy, Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) leader Harjinder Singh Dhami called for action against those responsible for the removal of turbans from the Sikh deportees.

“Our children who are coming here after being deported from the US are being stripped of their turbans. Action should be taken against them and an investigation should be done into the matter. The SGPC will help them,” he said at a press conference before he announced his resignation on ‘moral grounds’.