The Press Information Bureau (PIB), the Indian government's media agency, has debunked a "fake" image circulating on social media that falsely claims to show Indian migrants being deported from the U.S. in chains and cuffs. According to the PIB, the image actually depicts individuals being deported to Guatemala.

The deportation of 104 Indian migrants from the U.S. to Amritsar on February 5, 2025, has led to a surge of misinformation online. While news agencies have released images of the plane landing in India, the conditions inside the plane remain unclear.

Despite the PIB's claim that the image is fake, first-person accounts from the deported migrants confirm that they were transported in handcuffs and chains on the American military aircraft. One deportee, Harwinder Singh, stated that they were handcuffed and their feet were tied with chains for 40 hours, with limited movement allowed even to use the restroom.


Several misleading images have been circulating online, including:

An Associated Press image from January 30, showing people waiting in El Paso, Texas, to be deported to Guatemala, falsely claimed to be Indian migrants deported from the U.S.

An older picture from January 23, showing the first deportation flight from Tucson International Airport to Guatemala, falsely claimed to show an American C-17 plane carrying deported Indians.

An old picture taken in Mumbai in late December 2023, showing Indians being sent back from Paris on suspicion of human trafficking, falsely claimed to show individuals recently deported from the U.S.

A video posted on Instagram falsely claimed to show Indian deportees in pain while boarding the plane, but the footage originates from a video released by the U.S. Department of Defence (DoD) on January 27, showing U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents guiding chained and handcuffed individuals onto a military aircraft. The handout did not specify the destination of this flight.

ANI