Punjab cancels licenses of 40 travel agents amidst growing illegal immigration controversy

Punjab: Punjab has cancelled the licenses of 40 travel agents, amid the growing controversy over the deportation of Indians who migrated illegally to the US. As per the Amritsar police, they acted upon a complaint against the travel agents operating in the city and more actions were expected in the coming days. Reports say almost half of the people being deported by the US to India are from Punjab. And since May 2020, there have been 21 flights to Amritsar, mostly carrying deportees. Recently, three flights arrived in India with 333 deportees, with 126 (37.8%) of them being from Punjab. The issue of illegal immigration to Punjab has been widely reported. According to sources, the travel agents are cheating desperate individuals by promising them visas in exchange for large sums of money, but instead providing fake ones. The illigal practice is known as the ‘Dunki route’ which is creating quite a bad impression. Sources say that close to 3,200 police cases have been lodged against travel agents in Punjab in the past three years and multiple arrests have been made, including singer Fatehjit Singh in September last year. The police are still registering cases against travel agents who send Indians abroad illegally, and raids are being conducted to catch people involved therein. Besides, the licenses of certain IELTS centers had been cancelled too and similar actions will likely be taken in the future. The crackdown is being conducted nationwide to stop the illegal immigration, with many Indians trying to illegally enter countries like the US, Canada, UK, and Australia.