Indians have topped the number of illegal immigrants from Asian countries caught at land, sea, and air checkpoints of the US since 2022.
On January 19, 2022, 39-year-old Jagdish Patel, his wife Vaishalben, 37, their 11-year-old daughter Vihangi, and three-year-old son Dharmik were found frozen to death near Emerson town of Canada's Manitoba province, 39 feet from the United States border.
They were part of an 11-member group of undocumented migrants from India trying to illegally enter the US.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau described it as a 'mind-blowing tragedy', and it brought into sharp focus how relatively well-off Indians risked it all to reach the US, Canada, and Europe.
The attempt by the Patel family, which hailed from Dingucha village in Gujarat's Gandhinagar district, to negotiate their way into the US illegally also put the spotlight on how more families than ever before from India were trying to cross the border.
It indicated that more Indians now tried to enter the US from its northern border, rather than its southern one bordering Mexico.
There has been a sharp increase in illegal migration from India to the US in the last two years, according to the US Customs and Border Protection data.
Indians have topped the number of illegal immigrants from Asian countries caught at land, sea, and air checkpoints of the US since 2022. Earlier, those from the Philippines topped this list.
During the 2024 fiscal, US authorities detected 90,415 Indian citizens trying to illegally enter that country, which was slightly lower than the 96,917 during the 2023 fiscal -- that was the highest ever -- but consistent with the trend since 2021.
Of the 90,415 that the US authorities detained in 2023-24, 78,312 were 'single adults', 11,531 were 'individual in a family unit', 517 'single minors', and 55 were 'accompanied minors'.
In 2021, of the Indian citizens detained at both borders, the numbers mostly consisted of 'single adults'. But now family units comprise up to 15 per cent of the detentions, data shows.
The migrants from India are not the poorest or the least educated, but neither can they secure tourist or student visas to the US because of poor proficiency in English.
Patel's family, for example, runs a garment manufacturing unit and has farmland in Dingucha.
According to a study, Emigrants in rural Punjab, India: A socio-economic profile, by Navjot Kaur, Gaganpreet Kaur, and Lavjit Kaur, research scholars at the Department of Economics and Sociology, Punjab Agricultural University, published in April 2024, 73 per cent migrated after their secondary education.
A majority were from the upper, or 'general', category of castes, comprising 71.6 per cent and 86.6 per cent from the Doaba and Malwa regions of Punjab, respectively.
Only 6.77 per cent in Doaba and 13.34 per cent in Malwa belonged to the backward castes and none belonged to the scheduled castes.
The study found that the general castes had more land holdings to afford to send their children abroad.
India's concerns
Of the total 2,901,142 caught trying to enter the US illegally in the 2024 fiscal, those with Indian citizenship comprised 3.11 per cent.
The US authorities caught a total of 3,210,144 people in 2023 trying to enter it illegally, 2,766,582 in 2022 and 1,956,519 in 2021.
According to a US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) statement, it sent on October 22 a chartered flight to India with Indian nationals who were caught trying to enter the US illegally.
The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) listed 17,940 Indians in the US (but not in its custody) who were served final removal orders, and 2,647 Indian nationals were detained as part of its enforcement and removal operations in 2024. In total, ICE said it deported 1,529 Indians last year.
Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal has said New Delhi is opposed to illegal immigration and would be ready to take back Indians staying illegally in the US provided their nationality is verified. India is concerned that visas for its students and skilled workers remain protected.
In a recent interview to Business Standard, Vijay Chauthaiwale, in-charge of the Bharatiya Janata Party's foreign affairs department, said deportations of illegal immigrants will happen with greater speed and frequency.
"But as far as skilled immigration is concerned, the US needs Indian skills and Indian talent, and there are no two opinions about it even among US companies. I do not think it will adversely affect skilled immigration," Chauthaiwale said.
According to a study by Indiaspora, a US-based outfit that researches the contribution of the Indian Diaspora, approximately 320,000 work visas, which equates to roughly 73 per cent of the work visas the US allocated in 2022-2023, were issued to Indian Diaspora members.
'This is an indication of the power this group holds to fill talent gaps in STEM and other high-skilled occupations. The number of Indian American doctors, particularly those serving in rural areas, provides a good example; as do the number of tech workers, who also comprise a large percentage of H-1B visa holders,' the study said.
Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff.com
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