New Delhi: If you haven’t watched ’12 Years A Slave’ (2013), where Chiwetel Ejiofor (Solomon Northup) is caught in the crosshairs of pursuing a dream job and the stark reality that he faces as a black man wrongly enslaved in a US prison, you must watch it. The 2 hour 14 minutes historical drama will poignantly take you back to the days of inhumane conditions of American slavery… There’s something about the pictures and videos of the 104 Indian deportees being sent back on a military flight by the US, handcuffed and legs chained, which brings back the memory of this classic Steve McQueen masterpiece.

The ‘Guardian’ at the time had done a special article on the film, breaking down what they called the “roots of America’s shameful past.” That was then.

This is today. (See picture/video).

India’s External Affairs Minister, Dr S Jaishankar clarified in his speech in the Rajya Sabha that the February 5 deportation of illegal Indian immigrants by the US was organised and executed by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement ( ICE) authority as per protocol and lawfully. “The SOP of deportation by aircraft used by ICE which is effective from 2012 provides for the use of restraint. We have been informed by ICE that women and children are not restrained,” he said.

For those who are unaware, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is an agency responsible for “arresting, detaining, and removing noncitizens who have violated immigration laws.” It is thus, the lookout of the ICE to organise deportations and returns from within the country. A document on the US immigration policies documents the rules of deportation as followed by the ICE.........

© News9Live