On 4 February 2025, at least 104 Indian citizens have been deported from the United States on a military aircraft. Against this backdrop, a video of people being handcuffed in the presence of armed forces boarding a plane in a queue went viral on social media. Sharing the video, social media users are claiming that these are the Indian citizens who have been deported from the US.
Instagram Link | Archived Link.
However, as we investigated, we came to know that the claim was false. The people shown in the video are not Indians. Here’s the fact check.
Fact Check
We started our investigation by taking some screenshots from the viral video and conducting a reverse image search. This led us to a YouTube channel where the viral video was uploaded on 29 January 2025.
There was a text overlay on the video. Translating the text with the help of Google Translate we came to know that the video shows Colombian migrants being deported from the US.
Taking this clue, using relevant keywords we found the same video uploaded on the official YouTube channel of ANI on 31 January 2025. The description of the video reads, “The U.S. Department of Defense released footage on Monday (January 27) purportedly showing illegal migrants boarding a deportation flight at Fort Bliss, Texas, according to an official statement. US Customs and Border Protection agents were seen guiding chained and handcuffed individuals onto a military aircraft in footage dated January 23, as per the Department of Defense (DoD). On Friday (January 24), military aircraft began flying out migrants on orders from President Donald Trump, as the Pentagon prepared to send even more troops to the southern border. That same day Mexico refused a request from Trump’s administration to allow a U.S. military aircraft deporting migrants to land in the country, a U.S. official and a Mexican official told Reuters. On Sunday (January 26), Colombia turned away two U.S. military aircraft that were flying to the South American country with migrants being deported. Later, Trump and Colombian President Gustavo Petro pulled back from the brink of a trade war after the White House said Colombia agreed to accept military aircraft transporting deported migrants.”
Moving forward, we found an image similar to the screenshots from the viral video on a website. According to the headline, the image shows the US military conducting joint deportation flights with DHS.
Another report containing a similar image reads, “Two U.S. Air Force C-17 flights carrying out deportation missions turned around after being denied diplomatic clearance to land in Colombia, U.S. officials told Air & Space Forces Magazine on Jan. 26.
The C-17s were deporting people detained by immigration agencies. They took off from Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif., on the evening of Jan. 25 local time heading towards Bogota, Colombia. The first flight, whose callsign was Reach 538, got as far as the Gulf Coast near Texas before it turned around, stopping in Houston. The other C-17, whose callsign was Reach 539, took off a few hours later and returned shortly to base after its departure, flight tracking data shows. U.S. officials confirmed the diversions…”
The US Department of Defense released the video on its website.
Similar reports can be seen here and here.
This makes it clear that the viral video shows Colombian migrants being deported from the United States. The people shown in the video are not Indian.
Conclusion
From our investigation, we can say that the claim is false. The video shows the Colombian migrants being deported from the United States. They are not Indian migrants.
Title:Video Of Colombian Migrants Being Deported From The US Going Viral As Indian Migrants
Fact Check By: Debanjana BaishyaResult: False
