The Nepali Embassy in Washington, DC, has stated that it does not have a precise figure of illegal Nepalis residing in the US, but also a numerical breakdown of those deported.
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| Source: kantipur |
• In 2025, 484 Nepalis were deported from the US in a phased manner due to their undocumented status.
• Due to the strictness of the Trump administration, there has been a significant increase in the deportation of illegal immigrants, including an increase in the number of Nepalis.
• According to US agencies, surveillance and action against illegal immigrants are being tightened.
US 484 Nepalis have been deported from the US in one year in 2025. The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the US agency that controls and regulates immigration, has deported these Nepalis who were residing illegally without documents in a phased manner.
With the strict implementation of the plan to control, expel and bring illegal immigrants under the control of President Donald Trump, the number of Nepalis being deported from the US has increased significantly.
According to ICE data, a total of 389 Nepalis were deported from the US in the six years from 2019 to 2024. In the first phase of the list of deportees released by ICE, 1,365 Nepalis were on the list of deportees.
Of these, 484 were handed over to the immigration office at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu via charter flights, Qatar and India from January to December. Of these, 420 are men and 64 are women.
6 Nepalis have been deported in January, 18 in February, 32 in March, 26 in April, 58 in May, 42 in June, 17 in July, 16 in August, 53 in September, 38 in October, 80 in November and 98 in December.
According to the data, 162 Nepalis were deported from the US in 2019, 97 in 2020, 23 in 2021, 28 in 2022, 22 in 2023 and 57 in 2024.
The Nepali Embassy in Washington, DC, stated that it did not have a precise figure of illegal Nepalis residing in the US, as well as a numerical description of those who were deported. Yugraj Pandey, Economic Counselor at the Embassy, admitted that it was not possible to keep a precise figure as all Nepalis residing in the US illegally and on the deportation list could not be contacted by the Embassy.
The Nepali Embassy in Washington, DC, stated that it did not have a precise figure of illegal Nepalis residing in the US, as well as a numerical description of those who were deported. Yugraj Pandey, Economic Counselor at the Embassy, admitted that it was not possible to keep a precise figure as all Nepalis residing in the US illegally and on the deportation list could not be contacted by the Embassy.
Juna Adhikari, Second Officer at the Embassy, said that 407 travel documents were issued in 2025. “Of the travel documents issued, not all will be deported from the US,” she said. “394 documents were prepared at the request of ICE. But we have not received official information whether those whose travel documents were made at the request of ICE have been deported or not.’
The official said that travel documents will be issued to those who do not have passports or who need to go to Nepal immediately after their passports expire. ‘We have issued travel documents because most of the people who entered the US illegally and are facing deportation do not have passports. But not all those who are issued travel documents will be subject to deportation,’ she said.
Prabhin Bhattarai, a spokesperson for the Nepali Consulate General in Dallas, Texas, which has been operating for the past two months, said that the number of people making travel documents has increased. ‘We are working on applications from the eight states under our jurisdiction, but we are also prioritizing applications from other states.’
In the year 2025, there are data that two million illegal immigrants, including Nepalis, were deported from the US. Homeland Security, the top US immigration agency, has claimed that 1.6 million have left the US voluntarily and 400,000 have been detained and deported.
Homeland Security Secretary Christy Noem has said that the number of people leaving the US voluntarily has increased due to the Trump administration's plans and the activities of ICE. According to the data released by Homeland Security, there are only 13.8 million illegal immigrants in the US, down from 15.8 million, after a decrease of 2 million.
The largest number of illegal immigrants are from Mexico, El Salvador, India, Guatemala, Honduras, China, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Brazil and Colombia. Along with the deportation of illegal immigrants, ICE is also arresting businesses that employ them. According to ICE, more than 1 million US dollars in fines were collected from the arrested businesses.
'The number of arrests and deportations of those who are illegally in the US will continue to increase. "This work will continue with continued vigilance," Noem said. "The focus of ICE's efforts now should be on arrests and deportations from the interior of the country. That is also reflected in the numbers."
