US embassy cable - 05NEWDELHI5964

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 005964 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: CVIS, PREL, KCRM, IN, Counter-Terrorism, Indo-US 
SUBJECT: MHA WILLING TO PONDER DEPORTEE DOCUMENTATION FIX 
 
1.  (SBU) Summary and Action Request: Ministry of Home 
Affairs Special Secretary Kanwar Pratap Singh told Charge, 
Consul General and Poloff on August 1 that MHA would be 
willing to meet with DHS representatives to explore 
developing a mechanism to speed up the process of documenting 
Indian nationals who are the subject of removal orders in the 
United States.  While outlining the difficulties that Indian 
states face in verifying nationality, Singh suggested that a 
model similar to the fast-track process developed for the UK 
might work for the US, and invited the Embassy to send a 
letter to the Home Secretary proposing a meeting between MHA 
and DHS representatives.  We should seize this opportunity to 
engage with the Home Ministry on deportations.  Action 
Request: Post requests Department and DHS clearance on the 
proposed letter text contained at para 7.  End Summary. 
 
Deportee Documentation for the UK 
--------------------------------- 
 
2.  (SBU) After Charge explained the necessity of developing 
an expedited system to document the over 17,000 Indian 
subjects of removal orders in the United States, Singh 
commented that India has such a "fast-track" system with the 
UK, and that his recent review of the program revealed that 
it was functioning well.  He invited MHA Joint Secretary 
(Foreigners) Mishra to explain the details of the UK program 
to us. 
 
3.  (SBU) Mishra told us that under the agreement with the 
UK, the states of Punjab, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu (from where 
the majority of deportees hail) have designated a nodal 
officer to handle requests for nationality verification.  UK 
immigration officials can directly send an e-mail request to 
the nodal officer, avoiding the previous requirement of 
diplomatic correspondence between the foreign ministries. 
MHA has provided the UK a format to guide in collecting 
information and making the request for verification from the 
state government.  A copy of the UK MOU and GOI format was 
provided to the desk previously. 
 
4.  (SBU) Since the UK program was renewed in April, Mishra 
said, the time to verify nationality has dropped to only two 
months.  However, the system is still imperfect at 
determining nationality because of the possibility that the 
information state officials verify may itself be inaccurate. 
Of the UK cases examined, 10% of the subjects were verified 
and issued passports, 20% of the cases were found to have 
insufficient data to conduct the verification, and 60% of the 
subjects' nationality could not be verified based on the 
information provided.  (Note: Mishra did not specify the 
outcome of the remaining 10%.  End Note)  Mishra speculated 
that potential deportees may have deliberately given false 
information to avoid repatriation, or could be Pakistani, 
Bangladeshi or Nepalese citizens falsely claiming Indian 
nationality. 
 
Willing to Discuss with DHS Team 
-------------------------------- 
 
5.  (SBU) The Joint Secretary stated that MHA would be 
willing to discuss a similar system with US immigration 
enforcement authorities.  He suggested that the Embassy write 
a letter outlining the scope of the undocumented deportee 
problem, and requesting a meeting between the appropriate DHS 
and MHA representatives. 
 
Comment: It's a Start 
--------------------- 
 
6.  (SBU) While the Home Ministry's proposal is not perfect, 
it represents the first step in developing a solution to the 
deportee documentation problem.  We should take advantage of 
the Ministry's willingness to engage by sending the letter at 
para 7 below.  End Comment. 
 
Next Step: A Draft Letter to Get the Ball Rolling 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
7.  (SBU) Action Request: Embassy seeks Department and DHS 
clearance to deliver the following draft letter to the Home 
Secretary: 
 
SIPDIS 
 
(Complimentary Opening) 
 
As you are aware, the United States Department of Homeland 
Security (DHS) is currently holding approximately 200 Indian 
nationals in detention who have been convicted of criminal 
offenses, and there are approximately 17,000 other Indian 
nationals awaiting removal from the United States.  DHS has 
been unable to deport these individuals because they lack 
documentation permitting them to return to India. 
 
US law gives the Secretary of Homeland Security the authority 
to limit visa issuance to nationals of countries which do not 
act to promptly document their citizens pending deportation. 
 
We understand that the Ministry of Home Affairs has developed 
a program with the Government of the United Kingdom to allow 
UK immigration officials to send requests for verification of 
nationality directly to nodal officers in the concerned state 
governments in India.  This "fast-track" process has reduced 
the time that is spent waiting for verification of 
nationality and has allowed the Ministry of External Affairs 
to issue passports more expeditiously to Indian citizens 
awaiting deportation from the United Kingdom. 
 
We would be very interested in exploring the possibility of 
establishing a similar cooperative system for verifying the 
nationality of Indian citizens awaiting removal from the 
United States.  If the Ministry of Home Affairs is amenable 
to this idea, the Embassy proposes to arrange the visit of 
officials from the Department of Homeland Security to meet 
with their appropriate counterparts in the Ministry of Home 
Affairs to discuss this proposal. 
 
(Complimentary Closing) 
 
End text of proposed letter. 
BLAKE