A total of 39 Bangladeshi nationals, including one woman, were deported from the United States.
They arrived in Dhaka on Saturday.
According to sources at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, they were flown back on a special US military aircraft (C-17), which landed at 6:45am.
Several deportees alleged they were kept in handcuffs throughout the journey. “We are not criminals. We simply sought asylum. But we were treated like dangerous prisoners,” said one of the returnees.
Shariful Hasan, associate director of Brac Migration Program and Youth Platform, said most of the deportees had sold property or taken out large loans—some spending as much as Tk30–40 lakh—to reach the US through irregular routes via Mexico and South America.
After reaching the US, they applied for asylum, but their applications were rejected by courts and immigration authorities. The US administration later decided to deport them, he added.
The deportation followed a broader crackdown by US immigration authorities. Since taking office, the Trump administration has intensified efforts to repatriate undocumented immigrants to their home countries.