A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) removal flight carrying eight Nepalis deported from the U.S. landed at Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu at 10 a.m. local time on Wednesday, March 5. Among the deported individuals, six had valid Nepali passports, while the Nepali Embassy in Washington, D.C., issued travel documents for the remaining two.
These individuals had already received deportation orders from U.S. immigration courts. Some of those deported had reportedly paid human traffickers large sums of money to enter the U.S. via Mexico, but the exact number of such individuals in this group remains unclear. A source confirmed that none of the deportees on this flight had entered the U.S. on student visas.
Nepal has consistently accepted its citizens deported from the U.S. without resistance, and the Nepali Embassy in Washington, D.C., facilitates this process by issuing travel documents upon ICE’s request. U.S. President Donald Trump has warned of penalties for countries that refuse to accept their deported nationals, including restrictions on visas. However, Nepal has never faced such issues.
As of March 2, ICE had deported 27 Nepalis under Trump’s administration, with three more deported to Panama instead of Nepal. The Nepali Embassy in Washington, D.C., issued travel documents for 11 of the 27 deported individuals. However, many of the Nepalis deported up to March 2 had already received their travel documents before Trump’s administration resumed. Since Trump’s return to office, the Nepali Embassy has issued only about half a dozen travel documents, including two for those deported on March 5.
The exact number of Nepalis arrested by ICE since Trump’s return remains unclear. Data is also unavailable for Nepali deportations during the last four months of the Biden administration (October 1, 2024 – January 20, 2025).
Click here to read the latest news on U.S. immigration and other key issues.
Over Biden’s four-year term, ICE arrested 132 Nepalis and deported 130, while Customs and Border Protection (CBP) detained over 2,700 Nepalis at the border and transferred them to ICE custody. In total, 2,891 Nepalis were held in ICE detention during this period.
ICE arrest records show that 11 Nepalis were detained in fiscal year 2021, 30 in 2022, 56 in 2023, and 35 in 2024. Of those arrested in 2024, 10 had criminal convictions, while in 2023, 11 had criminal records.
Thousands of Nepalis crossed into the U.S. without visas during Biden administration. In fiscal year 2024, 710 were detained by CBP or ICE, following 835 in 2023, 962 in 2022, and 384 in 2021. During Biden’s presidency, ICE deported 130 Nepalis by air: 23 in 2021, 28 in 2022, 22 in 2023, and 57 in 2024.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) reports that nearly 9,000 Nepalis crossed the U.S. border without visas during Biden’s term, though only about 2,800 ended up in ICE custody.
By comparison, 1,850 Nepalis crossed the border without visas during Trump’s first term, a figure that surged nearly fivefold under Biden. The peak occurred in fiscal year 2024 (October 2023 – September 2024), when 3,690 Nepalis crossed the border without visas.
Since fiscal year 2025 began, 440 Nepalis crossed the border without visas in October and 300 in November. Earlier DHS data shows 3,140 border encounters in 2023, 1,490 in 2022, and 420 in 2021.
(Additional reporting by Kishor Panthi in New York)
Dipendra Dhungana
View More PostsDipendra Dhungana is a journalist based in Kathmandu with over a decade of experience in photojournalism. He currently works for Nepal’s national daily newspaper, Naya Patrika Daily. His work has been featured in numerous national and international outlets, showcasing the stories and resilience of the Nepali people. He is also a contributing journalist for NepYork.
