Dhaka, Aug 2 (IANS) A group of 39 Bangladeshi citizens, including a woman, were deported from the United States and arrived in Dhaka on Saturday.

According to officials at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, the individuals were transported on a C-17 US military aircraft.

Bangladesh’s leading daily, Dhaka Tribune, reported that some of the deportees claimed they were handcuffed throughout the flight.

“We’re not criminals, we just sought asylum. But we were treated as if we were dangerous offenders,” one of them was quoted as saying by the daily.

Shariful Hasan, Associate Director of Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) Migration Programme and Youth Platform, explained that many of the deported individuals had either sold family assets or borrowed heavily, often up to Tk 30–40 lakh to reach the United States through irregular channels, passing through Mexico and South America.

They had applied for asylum upon their arrival in the US. However, their requests were denied by immigration officials and the courts, leading to the decision to deport them, Hasan said.

The move is part of a wider crackdown by the US immigration authorities. Since taking office, the Donald Trump administration has ramped up efforts to remove undocumented migrants from the country.

In June, US President Donald Trump instructed the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials to intensify deportation efforts against the “illegal aliens” in major American cities.

The move came after large-scale demonstrations broke out in Los Angeles and major cities against the US administration’s immigration policies.

“Our Nation’s ICE Officers have shown incredible strength, determination, and courage as they facilitate a very important mission, the largest mass deportation operation of illegal aliens in history. Every day, the brave men and women of ICE are subjected to violence, harassment, and even threats from radical Democrat politicians, but nothing will stop us from executing our mission and fulfilling our mandate to the American People,” Trump posted on his social media platform, Truth Social.

“ICE Officers are herewith ordered, by notice of this Truth, to do all in their power to achieve the very important goal of delivering the single largest mass deportation programme in history,” he said.

Trump stated that immigration officials must expand efforts to detain and deport “illegal aliens” in America’s largest Cities, such as Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York, where, he claimed, millions reside.

–IANS

bpd/as