At least 35 Nepali nationals who did not have proper documents to live and work in the United States have been deported over the past month and a half following the swearing-in of Donald Trump as the US president on January 20.

Nine Nepali nationals who were living and working illegally in the US were brought to Kathmandu on a chartered flight—handcuffed throughout the journey, said officials.

According to our records, after January 20, as many as 35 Nepali nationals have been deported, Govinda Rijal, director general at the Department of Immigration, told the Post.

The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement is the key agency that undertakes the operation against illegal “aliens”.

Earlier, the US administration used to deport Nepali nationals on regular flights or on an individual basis, but on Wednesday they deported eight Nepalis on a chartered flight while one Nepali national was sent on a regular flight, said Rijal.

“En route to Kathmandu, their arms and legs were shackled throughout,” a Nepali official who quizzed them after they were handed over to the immigration official told the Post. Later, they were handed over to the anti-trafficking unit of Nepal Police for further interrogation.

The police will inquire about how they left Nepal, how much they paid to the middlemen to reach the US, as well as how they were caught by US authorities and what kind of treatment they were given during the flight, according to the officials.

Those deported on Wednesday had reached the United States six to ten months ago, having paid between six and nine million rupees to middlemen to help them to reach the US mainland.

“They shared with us harrowing tales of their journeys from Nepal to the US via the ‘donkey’ route,” the official who quizzed them said. Initially they were taken to several countries in the Middle East, then to European countries, and then to South America before they got to the US. Some of them had crossed a dozen countries before reaching the US.

“Up to Europe, their journey seemed easy,” the official said. But on reaching Panama, the route to the US became arduous, passing through dense forests, swollen rivers as they sailed on rickety boats.

Some had reached the US via the route of England-Portugal-Brazil-Colombia-Panama-Costa Rica-Nicaragua-Honduras-Guatemala-Mexico while others took the India-Tanzania-Dubai-Ghana-Spain-Brazil-Bolivia-Colombia-Panamá-Costa Rica-Nicaragua-Honduras-Guatemala-Mexico route.

Many of them had paid the middlemen through bank deposits. Those deported on Wednesday are from Rolpa, Rukum East, Rukum West, Dang, and Doti districts.

The police are trying to crack down on the middlemen and have even identified some of them, said the police officer.

SP Narendra Kuwar, spokesperson for the Nepal Police Bureau of Human Trafficking, said that some of the Nepali nationals had reached the United States 10 months ago while others had landed there only five months ago. They were brought from New Hampshire to Kathmandu.

They told the police that they had gone to the US to fulfil their personal aspirations and due to the lack of good job opportunities in Nepal.

Police will hand them over to their family members after interrogation.

Mostly, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) deports foreign nationals who were already listed for deportation or those staying illegally in the country for two or more years. In case of other people in the US, the ICE needs to obtain the permission of the immigration court in order to deport them.

Last month the US deported over 1,600 foreigners to their home countries. They were living in the US illegally, had overstayed their visas, or faced criminal charges, said Rijal, calling this a routine immigration procedure.

According to the immigration data, on January 22, 24 and 29, one Nepali each was deported from the US.

On January 30 and 31, two and one Nepali nationals, respectively, were deported. More Nepalis were deported on February 1, 5, 6, 8, 16, 17, 19, 20, 24 and March 2. The former Joe Biden administration also deported as many as 130 Nepali nationals at different dates.

The Nepali Embassy in Washington provided travel documents for the deportees after the US issued its list.

According to Tirtha Raj Bhattarai, head of the immigration office at the Tribhuvan International Airport, Kathmandu, the deportations began in late January and have continued through February into March. The immigration office processes the deportees’ papers before they are handed over to the police for further investigation.