‘No Infosys employee apprehended’: CEO Salil Parekh quashes viral US deportation claims

Infosys CEO Salil Parekh recently clarified that none of the IT company’s employees have been arrested or deported by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) while entering the country. His clarification came after a post went viral on social media claiming that an Infosys employee was “picked up” by ICE agents.

However, Parekh acknowledged that one employee was detained upon entering the US and then returned to India.

“No Infosys employee has been arrested by any US authority. A few months ago, one of our employees was denied entry to the US and was sent back to India,” he said at the company’s third-quarter earnings call on Wednesday.

A social media post stirred up a hornet’s nest

The clarification came in the wake of a post shared by a user named Chetan Anantharamu, who narrated a “wild story” of an Infosys employee who was allegedly deported from the US. According to the post, this person was an employee from Mysuru who traveled to the US on site for a project.

The user also claimed that ICE agents picked up the employee from campus. “He was arrested by ICE agents, given two hours to pack his belongings from his home, and had two choices. Go to jail or be deported.”

According to the post, the agents escorted the employee and handed him over to the airport authorities in the United States to ensure that he boarded a flight to India via Frankfurt. The user claimed that what happened during the trip was extremely humiliating.

“He was humiliated inside the plane with a general announcement that he should not be allowed to escape once the plane landed in Frankfurt. Again in Frankfurt, he was escorted up to his seat on the return flight to Bangalore, and again a general announcement was made that he should not get up from his seat until the flight took off.”

The post also claimed that on landing at Bengaluru airport, Infosys lawyers received the employee and took him home. “Right now, he is in complete depression and is getting a counseling session from the company, and Infy wants to help him sue ICE agents in the US. I think such stories will become normal in the coming days for Indian CEOs in the US on H1B,” the user wrote at the end of the post.

ICE Powers and Operations

Currently, Immigration and Customs Enforcement is implementing the Trump administration’s mass deportation initiative, a key campaign promise of Donald Trump. After taking office for a second term, Trump dramatically expanded ICE’s size, budget, and mandate.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) considers its mission critical to public safety and national security. However, its powers differ from those of local police departments in the United States.

ICE agents can stop, detain, and arrest people they suspect of being in the United States illegally. However, their authority to enter a home or other private place requires a signed warrant.

However, the Trump administration has selected agents from several federal law enforcement agencies to participate in immigration enforcement.

Border Patrol agents increasingly operate within the United States, participating in ICE raids. ICE and others have deployed officers to cities like Los Angeles, Chicago and Minneapolis.

What happens to ICE detainees?

Agents can also detain U.S. citizens in limited circumstances, such as when someone interferes with an arrest, assaults an officer, or is suspected of being in the country illegally.

Typically, the agency operates within the United States, with some employees assigned abroad. ICE’s sister agency, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, is responsible for guarding the U.S. border.

If arrested by ICE, he can be temporarily detained and released after questioning. In select cases, ICE will detain the person and transfer them to a larger detention facility anywhere in the United States or abroad.

It may also take days for families and/or attorneys to know the whereabouts of an individual if he or she is being detained by the agency.