Indians make up merely 2% of people detained for trying to enter the US illegally, but hardly a few were deported, according to Indian agencies and Gujarat police. Many get refuge on humanitarian grounds
As many as 1.49 lakh Indians were caught trying to unlawfully enter the US between February 2019 and March 2023, according to data from the US Customs and Border Protection (USCBP), revealing a grim truth that the “American dream” continues to lure Indian asylum-seekers despite several deaths in dangerous border crossings, reported the Times of India.
“Those detained are mostly from Gujarat and Punjab,” said a police officer from Gujarat. In January 2022, as many as 5,459 Indians were caught entering the US illegally. Of these, 708 were caught along the US-Canada border. The numbers rose 35.9% to 7,421 in January 2023, including 2,478 detentions made on the US-Canada border. Indians were detained in 2,663 attempted border crossings either from Canada in the north or Mexico in the south, the data says.
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Gujarat police have been cracking down on organised human traffickers operating in the state after a family of four from Dingucha village, 44km from Ahmedabad, froze to death on the Canada-US border after they were reportedly separated in a blizzard from a larger group of Indians that made it across to the US in -35 degrees Celsius in January last year
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The tragic news did not stop Indians from attempting to make it to the US illegally – some ending in tragedies that underscored the desperation
Indians make up merely 2% of people detained for trying to enter the US illegally, but hardly a few were deported, according to Indian agencies and Gujarat police. Many get refuge on humanitarian grounds.
The US has been the world’s most popular destination for asylum-seekers since 2017, according to UN figures. Even those who lose in court can stay for years while their cases wind through a backlogged system.
Gujarat police have been cracking down on organised human traffickers operating in the state after a family of four from Dingucha village, 44km from Ahmedabad, froze to death on the Canada-US border after they were reportedly separated in a blizzard from a larger group of Indians that made it across to the US in -35 degrees Celsius in January last year. The tragic news did not stop Indians from attempting to make it to the US illegally – some ending in tragedies that underscored the desperation.
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