Subhechcha Ganguly 
Lovepreet Kaur, 30, from Bholath in Kapurthala, Punjab, and her 10-year-old son were deported by the US after a perilous journey to reunite with her husband, who has been living there for years. The mother-son duo, who set out on January 2, were caught by US border authorities while attempting to cross through Mexico. Desperate for a new life, the family had invested everything, paying ₹1.05 crore to agents who promised a safe passage along the treacherous ‘dunki’ route through Latin America. Upon their return, Lovepreet’s in-laws, who own six acres of farmland, were left in shock and chose not to comment on the ordeal.
Lovepreet Kaur, one of 104 Indian immigrants deported by the Trump administration, was informed of her detention and subsequent deportation by her husband, who lives in the US. A village sarpanch revealed that her husband arranged most of the ₹1.05 crore for the journey, while the family took a loan against their farmland to cover the rest. The agent promised them a direct route to the US, but what they endured was far from expected. Lovepreet recalled the harrowing journey in which she and her son were forced to take the perilous ‘dunki’ route, crossing multiple countries. After being flown to Medellin, Colombia, and kept there for nearly two weeks, they were flown to San Salvador, El Salvador, then walked three hours to Guatemala before traveling by taxi to the Mexican border. After two days in Mexico, they finally crossed into the US on January 27, only to be caught and deported soon after.
