They left to chase the American dream, selling land, mortgaging homes and trusting agents who promised a better life. Early Sunday, 50 men from Haryana, aged between 25 and 40, returned home — deported, disillusioned and, many of them claim, in debt, after being swept up in the US crackdown on illegal immigrants.

According to officials in Haryana, 16 of those deported are from Karnal, 14 from Kaithal, five from Kurukshetra and one from Panipat. They said all of them had taken the “donkey” or “dunki” route — the chain of human trafficking trails through South and Central America — to cross into the US. Some had spent years there, others only months. Several had been jailed before deportation.

Among those on the flight was Ankur Singh (26), a resident of Rahra village in Karnal, who says h

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