"During this time, one is even afraid to eat"
A Punjabi Sikh man shared his terrible ordeal of being deported from the United States, revealing that his turban was thrown away.
He also claimed his beard was forcibly trimmed.
Mandeep Singh served in the Indian Army for 17 years and spent Rs. 40 lakh (£36,000) on agents.
Additionally, he took a loan of Rs 14 lakh (£12,700). Hoping to fulfil his dreams in the USA, he embarked on the journey, but fate had other plans.
After spending a few months in the US, he was deported to India via a military plane.
Mandeep left Amritsar, Punjab, for the US on August 13, 2024. However, he returned on a deportation flight on February 16, 2025.
Sharing his ordeal, Mandeep said: “I flew from Amritsar to Delhi on 13 August 2024.
“Then from Delhi, I took a flight to Mumbai, from Mumbai, my flight was to Rabia and then to Kenya, then from Kenya to Dakar.
“Then after that, there was a flight from Dakar to Amsterdam and then I went to Suriname. From there, I went to the United States by train and other modes of transport.
“I travelled from Suriname to Guam, after Guam to Bolivia, from Bolivia to Peru, after Peru to Brazil, from Brazil to Aqua Dore, then to Colombia and then to the jungles of Panama.
“During this journey, I spent two and a half to three hours in the sea and it reminded us of God.”
Whilst travelling through the Panama jungle, Mandeep said he saw many crocodiles.
During his journey to the United States, the Sikh man claimed he survived on Maggi noodles and partially raw rotis for 70 days.
Detailing the harsh conditions, Mandeep said: “I travelled through roads, in which 10-15 people were in one vehicle.
“During this time, one is even afraid to eat, because one does not know whether he or she will be allowed to go to the toilet or bathroom or not.
“It took 13 days to cross the Panama jungle, after which we reached a camp and spent the night there.
“I ate biscuits and raw bread at the camp. The treatment meted out to youths when they are searched by the US military after entering the US is extremely saddening.”
Mandeep and several others were arrested by the US Border Patrol on January 27, 2025, in Tijuana, Mexico.
By this time, his beard had been forcibly trimmed.
Mandeep claimed: “They had our bags emptied, stripped down to the soles of our shoes. The people from the Sikh community were given worse treatment.
“I was a ‘Gursikh’, there were other ‘Amritdhari’ youths too, whose belongings were searched and thrown away.
“Our ‘dumales’, turbans and ‘pernas’ were also thrown in the dustbin.”
“We were boarded by the US military with our bare heads tied up and put on a plane for the return journey.
“We were not even given any clothes to cover our heads.
“We were given apples, chips and fruit to eat. When we had to go to the bathroom, we would open one hand.”
Mandeep Singh urged the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) to take strict action against those mistreating Gursikhs.
His deportation comes as Donald Trump’s administration cracks down on illegal immigration.
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