India Tells Trump It Will Take Back 18,000 Illegal Immigrants To Avoid A Trade War

India’s government has signaled that it will work with the incoming Trump administration to take back at least 18,000 citizens residing in the U.S. illegally.

Those illegal immigrants already have been identified by the U.S., Bloomberg reported, and India will begin the process of verifying their status and bringing them back overseas. The total number of Indian illegal immigrants living in the U.S. could be far higher, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.

The move by India comes as President Donald Trump has threatened repercussions if countries don’t take back their citizens who are living illegally in the U.S. Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on countries like China and Mexico if they don’t meet certain U.S. demands. India, for example, was one of the countries Trump threatened to impose tariffs on if it tried to move away from the U.S. dollar, The Daily Wire previously reported. Trump specifically targeted Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa (BRICS), which now includes Iran, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Argentina, Egypt, and Ethiopia.

“The idea that the BRICS Countries are trying to move away from the Dollar while we stand by and watch is OVER,” Trump said in a post on social media. “We require a commitment from these Countries that they will neither create a new BRICS Currency, nor back any other Currency to replace the mighty U.S. Dollar or, they will face 100% Tariffs, and should expect to say goodbye to selling into the wonderful U.S. Economy.”

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India hopes that by cooperating with the Trump administration on illegal immigration, the U.S. will protect the process for Indian citizens to legally immigrate to the U.S. through student visas and the H-1 B program for skilled workers, Bloomberg reported. The outlet noted that three-quarters of the 386,000 H-1B visas granted in 2023 went to Indian citizens.

Complying with the U.S.’s immigration demands could also help India’s agreements with other countries, Bloomberg reported. India is currently facing a job shortage. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made migration agreements with multiple countries over the past few years, including Israel, Japan, Saudi Arabia, and others.

“As part of India-US cooperation on migration and mobility, both sides are engaged in a process to deter illegal migration. This is being done to create more avenues for legal migration from India to the U.S.,” Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for India’s Ministry of External Affairs, told Bloomberg. “The latest deportation of Indian nationals from the U.S. by a chartered flight is a result of this cooperation.”