Mexico has deported 311 undocumented immigrants from India because of United States President Donald Trump’s hardline position advocating crackdown on the surging number of immigrants crossing into America, PTI reported on Thursday.

In a statement, Mexico’s National Institute for Migration said the 310 men and one woman were deported from Toluca City International Airport on a Boeing 747 aircraft to New Delhi on Wednesday. They were detained by authorities in the Mexican states of Oaxaca, Baja California, Veracruz, Chiapas, Sonora, Mexico City, Durango and Tabasco, it added. They are expected to arrive in India on Friday, Hindustan Times reported.

The migration institution said trans-Atlantic deportation by air of such a large number of people was unprecedented in the country’s history.

“This was carried out, thanks to the excellent communication and coordination with the embassy of that Asian country, with which the recognition and return of these citizens was worked, under strict adherence to the Migration Law and its Regulations,” said the Mexican agency.

Before being put on the plane home, the deportees were accompanied by federal migration agents and members of the National Guard of Mexico to the Acayucan Migration Station in Veracruz for identity verification.

Trump has made hardline anti-immigration policies the centerpiece of his 2020 re-election campaign like he did in 2016. He has blamed lax US asylum laws for encouraging people to show up at the border with their children.

Now, follow and debate the day’s most significant stories on Scroll Exchange.