The Punjab government has cancelled the licences of 40 travel agents in Amritsar as part of a crackdown on allegedly fraudulent agencies operating in the state, India Today reported on Monday.

The crackdown comes amid the deportation of hundreds of undocumented Indian migrants from the United States this month.

The agents were allegedly involved in sending Indian citizens to the US, including some who were recently deported.

The licences of some International English Language Testing System, or IELTS, centres were also revoked, according to NDTV.

Of the first three US military flights on February 5, February 15 and February 16 that deported 333 Indians, at least 126 were reportedly from Punjab. Among the 12 who returned to India on Sunday after being deported to Panama by the US, four were from Punjab.

The deportations are part of a wider crackdown by US President Donald Trump’s administration.

More action is expected to be taken against such travel agents and IELTS centres in the coming days, NDTV quoted unidentified officials as saying.

Sub-divisional magistrates have been ordered to inspect the documents of travel agents and immigration consultants in the state, India Today reported. The district police have been asked to inform the deputy commissioner if any complaints are filed against travel agents.

Seventeen first information reports were registered against allegedly fraudulent agents between February 5 and February 23, Punjab’s Non-Resident Indians’ affairs minister Kuldeep Dhaliwal told India Today. "We have been strict and we are taking action against anyone who files a written complaint," he said. "We have been tough on these agents."

The Enforcement Directorate is investigating at least 4,200 Indians who immigrated to the US in the past three years allegedly without proper documentation, The Indian Express reported on February 7.

The central law enforcement agency said it has discovered thousands of suspicious transactions linked to Indians going to Canada on education visas and then immigrating to the United States illegally. The Enforcement Directorate found the pattern while investigating agents in Gujarat and Punjab allegedly involved in sending Indians to the US without the required documents.

A 2022 US Department of Homeland Security report estimated that 2,20,000 undocumented Indian migrants were living in the country. More than 1,100 Indians were deported in the 12 months leading up to October 2024.

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