US warns govts of ‘serious consequences’ – 'won't tolerate those who facilitate illegal immigration,' says Embassy

The United States Embassy in India has reiterated that the US will not tolerate those who facilitate illegal and mass immigration.

The Embassy, in a statement shared on its X handle, also said the United States has "established new visa restrictions" targeting foreign government officials and others who do so.

The statement comes against the backdrop of an immigration crackdown by the Trump administration in California's Los Angeles recently. "We will not tolerate those who facilitate illegal and mass immigration to the United States," reads the embassy statement.

The US has established "new visa restrictions targeting foreign government officials and others who do so, and the Trump Administration has designated as Foreign Terrorist Organizations several criminal cartels that facilitate illegal immigration and alien smuggling," it added.

"Also, governments that do not facilitate the repatriation of their nationals from the United States face serious consequences, including broad restrictions on entry to the United States for their nationals," it said.

The US Embassy on June 10 had also issued a statement, saying, the United States continues to welcome legitimate travellers to the country, but it "cannot and will not tolerate" illegal entry and abuse of visas or violation of US law.

The Embassy's June 10 statement comes a day after a shocking video of an Indian student, pinned to the floor at an US airport before being deported, went viral on social media.

Handcuffed, crying, ‘treated like a criminal’

The person who posted the video, Kunal Jain, who is also a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) alumni, claimed that the student was “treated like a criminal.” As per his post, the harrowing scene unfolded at Newark Airport, New Jersey. Tagging the Indian Embassy and External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar, Jain made an urgent appeal for intervention.

The Donald Trump's administration, since assuming power in January 2025, has deported as many as 1,080 Indian nationals from the US, As per the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA)

Among the students deported was Ranjani Srinivasan, a 37-year-old Indian PhD student from Columbia University, who self-deported in March to Canada after her student visa was revoked for allegedly being a "terror sympathiser."

As many as 1.1 million international students, including 3,32 lakh Indians, studied in the US in 2023-24, according to the latest Open Doors report.

(With PTI inputs)