By Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed with his Indian counterpart, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, concerns related to “irregular migration” on Tuesday, the State Department said.

WHY IT’S IMPORTANT

New U.S. President Donald Trump took office on Monday and issued a raft of executive orders that aim to clamp down on illegal immigration and advance his goal of deporting millions of immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally. He had made immigration a key issue of his election campaign last year.

The Indian government is prepared to work with the Trump administration to identify and take back all its citizens residing illegally in the U.S., Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, citing sources. The report added that the two countries have together identified some 18,000 Indian migrants who are in the U.S. illegally and could be sent back home.

KEY QUOTES

“Secretary Rubio also emphasized the Trump Administration’s desire to work with India to advance economic ties and address concerns related to irregular migration,” the State Department said in a statement.

CONTEXT

India, separately on its part, has said that the movement of skilled professionals is an important part of India-U.S. ties and benefits both countries amid a debate over H-1B visas on which Trump and his billionaire backer Elon Musk offered support to the visas.

India, known for its massive pool of IT professionals, many of whom work across the world, accounts for the bulk of H-1B visas issued by the United States.

Trump says he fully backed the programme opposed by some of his supporters after Musk vowed to go to “war” to defend it. India received about 78% of the 265,777 H-1B visas issued by the United States in the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, 2023.

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Tom Hogue and Michael Perry)

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