Videos of an Indian student being handcuffed and pinned to the ground by authorities at the Newark Airport in New Jersey before he was deported have gone viral, triggering an outrage on social media. The video, first captured by a witness and an Indian-American entrepreneur, Kunal Jain, showed the authorities treating the student like a criminal.
The disturbing footage shows the student pinned to the ground as at least four officials held him down, with two of them keeping their knees on his back. They had tied the student’s legs and hands.
“I witnessed a young Indian student being deported from Newark Airport last night – handcuffed, crying, treated like a criminal. He came chasing dreams, not causing harm. As an NRI, I felt helpless and heartbroken. This is a human tragedy,” Mr Jain wrote in a post on X. He also called upon the Indian Embassy in the US to investigate the matter and provide assistance to the student.
I witnessed a young Indian student being deported from Newark Airport last night— handcuffed, crying, treated like a criminal. He came chasing dreams, not causing harm. As an NRI, I felt helpless and heartbroken. This is a human tragedy. @IndianEmbassyUS #immigrationraids pic.twitter.com/0cINhd0xU1
— Kunal Jain (@SONOFINDIA) June 8, 2025
A day later, the Indian Embassy in New York addressed the incident, saying they have across social media posts claiming that an Indian national faced difficulties at the Newark Liberty International Airport. “We are in touch with local authorities in this regard. The Consulate remains ever committed for the welfare of Indian Nationals,” it said.
We have come across social media posts claiming that an Indian national is facing difficulties at Newark Liberty International Airport. We are in touch with local authorities in this regard.
The Consulate remains ever committed for the welfare of Indian Nationals.@MEAIndia…
— India in New York (@IndiainNewYork) June 9, 2025
Witness explains what happened
Mr Jain, who witnessed the incident, told NDTV that he had never seen such treatment even with terrorists.
“There were about 50 people around, but nobody dared to say anything. The reason I think he was pinned down is that he was a little violent, and he was feeling disoriented. I don’t know why he was disoriented. The authorities were saying that they did not understand Hindi, and he was speaking in a Haryanvi language. I thought probably I can help out. I went there, asked a police officer if I could help them understand what he was saying. But he didn’t allow me to do so,” Mr Jain said.
What the official did instead was call more police, he said.
“What happens when there is a violent person, they are not allowed on the plane. So, the officials called the pilot, he said we can’t take him on the plane because he’s a threat to other passengers. When that happened, they pinned him down. The worst part was when the other police officials came, at least seven to eight, they emptied the whole queue, and they tied his legs and hands and held him. At that moment, I literally started crying. Why did they do that, and so publicly,” Mr Jain told NDTV.
According to the witness, the officers were telling the student to “shut down”, while the Indian man was yelling, “Mai pagal nahi hu, yeh mujhe pagal bana rahe hai. Mai pagal nahi hu, yeh mujhe pagal sabit kar rahe hai (I’m not mad, they are trying to make me mad, prove that I’m mad).
“The problem was communication. It’s very hard to believe that this guy could not understand English, of course, he could. It’s that he was stressed and disoriented, and that’s why he was speaking in Hindi. Something might have occurred at the port of entry. The immigration officers may have found that he is disoriented, and that’s why they denied his visa. But in most cases, what they do is they keep the person’s dignity intact,” Mr Jain said.
The incident brought back horrific memories of the manner in which hundreds of Indians were deported from the US to India amid US President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigration. In February, when over 100 Indians were transported back to India, a video shared by the US Border Patrol showed the migrants being handcuffed and their legs shackled. As they deboarded the plane, visuals showed the Indians made to a shuffled walk – something that is commonly associated with hardened criminals. This had triggered a furious response from the Opposition in India, who questioned why the Centre could not send a plane to bring back its citizens in a “humane manner”.
