MHA WILLING TO PONDER DEPORTEE DOCUMENTATION FIX

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 005964

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: CVIS PREL KCRM IN 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