Dream to nightmare: Illegal immigrant from Haryana duped by agent; returns after 15-month US ordeal
What he did not know was that the journey would lead him through jungles, jails, and the very edge of survival.
Videos of Vishal being handcuffed and pinned down by US immigration officers at Newark International Airport last month had sparked outrage and confusion online. Many assumed he was a student. But he was an illegal immigrant for sure. But the truth, however, is far more complex and heartbreaking.
Tracked down by this reporter on Wednesday, a visibly shaken Vishal had returned to his village just a week ago, on June 26, after 15 harrowing months. He is not a student, but a farmer, a Class 10 pass-out who once tilled his family's land. And he had been duped out of Rs 45 lakh by a Karnal-based agent who promised him an American work visa.
'My family sold our land to pay the agent,' Vishal said quietly. 'He told us I'd first go to Europe and then be taken to the US through Central America. One of our relatives in Italy helped me get a nine-month farm visa. I reached Verona, stayed there for eight days, and then flew to Rome.'
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