In 2022, 63,927 undocumented Indians reached the US borders and sought asylum, which is more than double the previous year’s figure. The US southern border with Mexico is a common arrival point
Americans of Indian origin are often presented as “model” migrants but an increased number of Indians sought unauthorized entry to the US in 2022, according to US Customs and Border Patrol data.
In 2022, 63,927 undocumented Indians reached the US borders and sought asylum, which is more than double the previous year’s figure. The US southern border with Mexico is a common arrival point, reported dw.com.
From October 2021 to September 2022, US border authorities stopped Indian migrants “18,300 times” at the US southern border, according to the Migration Policy Institute’s (MPI) 2022 report on Indian immigration to the US. This is a spike from 2,600 encounters recorded the previous year.
Lopita Nath, professor of history and Asian Studies at the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio, Texas, said that this increase in unauthorized Indian arrivals could serve to tarnish the positive image of Indian immigration. “If the numbers grow as exponentially as they are now, the Indian diaspora will not be very happy about it, because it gives a bad name to the legal migrants,” she told DW.
As of 2021, 2.7 million immigrants of Indian origin are living in the US, according to the MPI report. The Indians coming to the US are generally highly educated, and many Indians receive employer-sponsored H-1B temporary visas for high-skilled workers. Indians are also the second largest demographic of foreign students at US universities. However, a lower percentage of Indian immigrants become US citizens when compared to other groups.
Stringent visa rules and organized migrant smuggling networks are also contributing to rising Indian encounters at the US border, said S Irudaya Rajan, Chairman of the International Institute of Migration and Development in Thiruvananthapuram
“Indians were less likely to be naturalized US citizens than immigrants overall, which may reflect the large numbers arriving on temporary visas and the relative recency of arrival,” the report said.
New York-based immigration lawyer Rohit Biswas told DW that with the legal pathway to naturalization getting tougher, more and more Indians may opt to either enter illegally or flout visa laws. “We have an economic system that requires certain immigrants. And I don’t think we have the immigration system that supports it,” he said
Stringent visa rules and organized migrant smuggling networks are also contributing to rising Indian encounters at the US border, said S Irudaya Rajan, Chairman of the International Institute of Migration and Development in Thiruvananthapuram.
Although smuggling networks operate more on the southern US border, when it comes to Indians, the US-Canada border has seen a recent increase in encounters with undocumented migrants.
******************************************************************
Readers
These are extraordinary times. All of us have to rely on high-impact, trustworthy journalism. And this is especially true of the Indian Diaspora. Members of the Indian community overseas cannot be fed with inaccurate news.
Pravasi Samwad is a venture that has no shareholders. It is the result of an impassioned initiative of a handful of Indian journalists spread around the world. We have taken the small step forward with the pledge to provide news with accuracy, free from political and commercial influence. Our aim is to keep you, our readers, informed about developments at ‘home’ and across the world that affect you.
Please help us to keep our journalism independent and free.
In these difficult times, to run a news website requires finances. While every contribution, big or small, will makes a difference, we request our readers to put us in touch with advertisers worldwide. It will be a great help.
For more information: pravasisamwad00@gmail.com