Does Trump Know India, not Mexico, is the Biggest Source of Illegals?

[Riaz Haq]

Does Donald Trump, the anti-immigration Republican presidential candidate, know that India is now the biggest source of illegal immigrants entering the United States?

US visa is the most sought after visa in India. Those who get it celebrate with billboards. Those who don't find human smugglers to smuggle them into the United States. The preferred routes for illegal entry from India are through the Caribbean and Central America.

Many surveys conducted in India over the years indicate that millions of Indians want to leave India to settle abroad. A quick Google search for "Escape from India" produces nearly 100 million results.  Many Indians cite lack of opportunity, poverty and various forms of discrimination as the reasons for wanting to leave India.

The number of unauthorized immigrants born in India grew by about 130,000 from 2009 to 2014, to an estimated 500,000. Many unauthorized immigrants from these nations arrived with legal status and overstayed their visas, according to Department of Homeland Security statistics. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said recently that his agency is “doubling down” on preventing immigrants from Africa, the Middle East and other parts of the world from crossing illegally at the southwest border, according to the Pew Research Report.

From 2009 to 2014, Pew estimates that the number of undocumented Indian immigrants in the U.S. exploded by 43% to a total of around 500,000. During the same period, the number of unauthorized Mexicans fell 8% to 5.85 million, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

Source: Wall Street Journal

Looking at the total arrivals including legal and illegal immigrants, India and China are each sending more people to the United States in recent years than any other country.

In 2014 about 136,000 people came to the U.S. from India, about 128,000 from China and about 123,000 from Mexico, census figures show. As recently as 2005, Mexico sent more than 10 times as many people to the U.S. as China, and more than six times as many as India, according to the WSJ story.

Will Donald Trump and his fellow anti-immigration campaigners take note of the changing picture of illegal immigration into the United States?  Will they stop bashing Mexicans and Muslims?

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[Riaz Haq]

Big jump in numbers of Indians crossing into US from Canada and Mexico illegally.

https://www.financialexpress.com/defence/more-indians-trying-to-ent...

The total number of undocumented Indian migrants apprehended at Southwest Land (US-Mexico) border by US Border Patrol (USBP) and Office of Field Operations (OFO) in 2022 FYTD (Oct 2021 to Apr 2022) were 8119 Indian, in 2021 (Oct 2020 till Sep 2021) were 2588, 2020 (Oct 2019 till Sep 2020) were 1120.

In 2022, undocumented Indian migrants surprisingly increased, numbers of undocumented Indian migrants in three months are equal to the number of undocumented Indian migrants in 2021 (October 2020 to September 2021) which is 2588.

On the US Northern Land (US-Canada) Border, the total number of undocumented Indian migrants apprehend at Northern Land Border by US Border Patrol (USBP) and Office of Field Operations (OFO) in 2022 FYTD (Oct 2021 to Apr 2022) were 5700 Indians, where in 2021 (Oct 2020 till Sep 2021) were 2225, 2020 (Oct 2019 till Sep 2020) were 3128.

[Riaz Haq]

Since the beginning of the 2022 fiscal year that started last October, a record 16,290 Indian citizens have been taken into US custody at the Mexican border. The previous high of 8,997 was recorded in 2018.

https://news.yahoo.com/us-immigration-why-indians-fleeing-231910481...

Experts point to a number of reasons for the increase, including a climate of discrimination in India, an end to pandemic-era restrictions, a perception that the current US administration is welcoming to asylum seekers and the ramping-up of previously established smuggling networks.

While some migrants are coming to the US for economic reasons, many are fleeing persecution back home, said Deepak Ahluwalia, an immigration lawyer who has represented Indian nationals in Texas and California.

The latter group range from Muslims, Christians and "low-caste" Hindus to members of India's LGBT community who fear violence at the hands of extreme Hindu nationalists, or supporters of secessionist movements and farmers from the Punjab region, which has been shaken by protests since 2020.

Conditions for many of these groups have deteriorated in recent years, international observers say.

Immigrants such as Mr Singh often see the US as "the ultimate gateway" to a better life, said Mr Ahluwalia, the lawyer.

The enormous distances involved, however, make the trip to the US extremely challenging.

Traditionally, Indian migrants who arrive at the US-Mexican border use "door-to-door" smuggling services, with journeys arranged from India to South America. They are often guided the entire way and travel in small groups with their fellow countrymen who speak the same language, rather than individually or with only family members.

These networks often begin with India-based "travel agents" which outsource parts of the journey to partner criminal groups in Latin America.

Jessica Bolter, an analyst at the Washington DC-based Migration Policy Institute, said that the number of Indian migrants is also rising as a result of a "ripple effect" that takes place when those who have used these services successfully recommend them to friends or family back in India.

"It naturally expands and draws more migrants," she said. "Of course, that doesn't happen without migrants wanting to leave originally."

The experiences of Manpreet - a 20-year-old from Punjab who asked that only his first name be used - are typical of those who have taken the southern route in the past. A vocal critic of India's ruling BJP (Bharatiya Jannata Party), he fled the country after being persecuted for his political beliefs.

"From Ecuador I took a bus to Colombia, and from Colombia I took a bus to Panama," Manpreet recalled in an interview with the BBC from California. "From there, via a boat, I [went to] Nicaragua and Guatemala, and then Mexico and entered the US."

Even guided by seasoned smugglers, the trip to the border is often one that is fraught with dangers, including robberies and extortion at the hands of local gangs or corrupt authorities or extreme weather, injuries and illness.

These dangers were highlighted in 2019, when a 6-year-old Indian girl from Punjab was found dead in the scorching desert near the border town of Lukeville, Arizona - a case that made headlines in India. It was later reported that she died in temperatures of over 42 C (108 F) after her mother left her with a group of other Indians to go search for water.

[Riaz Haq]

#US deports 21 #Indian #students in a single day. Their mobile phones & WhatsApp conversations were scrutinized. They were instructed to exit the country calmly, with warnings of severe legal consequences should they voice objections. #immigration #F1Visa
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/nri/latest-updates/students-de...

Students who were deported from the United States and had their student visa cancel could face a five-year entry ban to the country, TOI said in a report.

These students can also face problems when they try entering other popular international study destinations such as Canada, the UK, and Australia, experts said

The same report also said that this can create long-term implications for these individuals if they want to get an H1B visa in the future unless endorsed by major MNCs.

Financially, the cancellation of the F1 visa results in substantial losses as students forfeit expenses including visa fees, airfare, university application costs, consultant charges, and more, which could total around ₹3 lakh.

Twenty-one Indian students were deported from the United States in a single day, sparking concerns about visa-related complications. Many of these students, hailing from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, had completed visa formalities and arrived in the US with aspirations of pursuing higher education.


Reports indicate that these students were sent back following thorough document checks by immigration officers, leading to their brief detainment. The instances occurred across airports in Atlanta, Chicago, and San Francisco. Students shared their confusion, as they believed they had fulfilled all requirements for their visas and were prepared to join colleges.

Lacking clear explanations for their deportation, some students revealed that their mobile phones and WhatsApp conversations were scrutinized. Moreover, they were instructed to exit the country calmly, with warnings of severe legal consequences should they voice objections. The universities these students were en route to included institutions in Missouri and South Dakota.

As per data for May and June, which is typically when F1 visas for the fall semester are issued, about 42,750 students bagged F1 visas from five consulates in India. In sharp contrast, in the same period in 2022, only 38,309 F1 visas were issued.

[Riaz Haq]

Jayant Bhandari
@JayantBhandari5
The fastest growing economy in the world, India, is sending shiploads, trainloads and planeloads of people to the USA. What would the US fast food chains do without Indians?

https://x.com/JayantBhandari5/status/1804692050274820477

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A new $72,000 migrant smuggling route to the US starts with a charter flight, and many Indians are waiting to board - The Economic Times

https://m.economictimes.com/nri/migrate/a-new-72000-migrant-smuggli...

When a Legend Airlines Airbus A340 landed at San Salvador airport on July 15 after an 18-hour flight from the United Arab Emirates, its crew quickly realized something was wrong.


Salvadoran officials refused to connect the jet bridge to allow the roughly 300 passengers, all Indian nationals, to disembark, according to three former crew members on the flight who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity.

Several passengers told the cabin crew they planned to travel onward to Mexico and cross the border there illegally into the U.S., one crew member said. Others said they were going on vacation to the Mexican border city of Tijuana, another crew member said.

Salvadoran officials were already on high alert when the flight landed. Several months earlier, U.S. and Salvadoran authorities had noticed an unusual pattern of charter aircraft landing in El Salvador carrying primarily Indian nationals.

The planes were arriving full and leaving empty, a U.S. official said. And some passengers claiming to be tourists brought only a backpack for weeks-long trips. U.S. authorities later discovered that nearly all of the charter passengers disembarking in San Salvador had crossed the border into the U.S., the official said.

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About 9% of irregular crossings at the U.S. border in the 2023 fiscal year involved migrants from outside Latin America, or about 188,000 people, according to U.S. Department of Homeland Security data. A decade ago, people from outside the Americas accounted for barely 1% of irregular arrivals.


The Biden administration attributes the historic levels of migration to global economic and political instability. Trump has blamed the high border crossings on Biden's policies.


Indian nationals were the largest single group from outside the Americas encountered at the border last year, comprising about 42,000 arrivals. Migrants from 15 West African countries accounted for another 39,700, with most from Senegal and Mauritania.

The Biden administration has been working with some regional governments as well as travel companies to curb the flow of migrants.

In March, it began revoking U.S. visas for owners and executives of charter airlines and other companies thought to be facilitating smuggling. The State Department's Jacobstein declined to name individuals or companies affected or how many had faced restrictions. Reuters was unable to independently establish which companies had been targeted.

In May, the administration warned commercial airlines to be on the lookout for passengers who might be intending to migrate illegally to the U.S. Apprehensions on the border in April fell 48% from December, U.S. government data show, which U.S. officials attribute in part to tougher enforcement by Mexico.

El Salvador's Vice President Felix Ulloa said in an interview that his government has "permanent, constant, and effective" collaboration with the U.S. to fight irregular migration. The introduction of visa requirements and $1,000 transit fees on citizens of India and many African nations last October has "drastically reduced" the number of migrants transiting through San Salvador, he said.

But as some routes for illegal migration get squeezed, others open up.

[Riaz Haq]

Arif Rafiq
@ArifCRafiq
Vivek is apparently going to be sending a lot of Indians back home:

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/11/16/what-we-know-abo...

https://x.com/ArifCRafiq/status/1813373927739048264

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https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/11/16/what-we-know-abo...

After Mexico, the countries of origin with the largest unauthorized immigrant populations in the U.S. in 2021 were:

El Salvador (800,000)
India (725,000)
Guatemala (700,000)
Honduras (525,000)
India, Guatemala and Honduras all saw increases from 2017.

[Riaz Haq]

US Sends Back Illegal Indian Immigrants On Chartered Flight Ahead Of PollsThe charter flight was sent to India on October 22, the Department of Homeland Security said on Friday.

https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/us-sends-back-illegal-indian-immigr...

Washington:
The US hired a chartered flight to deport Indian nationals who were staying in the country illegally, the Department of Homeland Security has said, noting that this has been done in cooperation with the Indian government.

The charter flight was sent to India on October 22, the department said on Friday. "Indian nationals without a legal basis to remain in the United States are subject to swift removal, and intending migrants should not fall for the lies of smugglers who proclaim otherwise," said Kristie A. Canegallo, a senior official performing the duties of Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security.

The statement said the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) continues to enforce US immigration laws and deliver tough consequences for those who enter unlawfully and encourages the use of lawful pathways.

Since June 2024, when the Securing the Border Presidential Proclamation and accompanying Interim Final Rule went into effect, encounters between ports of entry along the southwest border of the US have decreased by 55 per cent.

In fiscal year 2024, the DHS removed or returned over 160,000 individuals and operated more than 495 international repatriation flights to more than 145 countries, including India, the statement said.

It said the department regularly engaged with foreign governments throughout the hemisphere and around the world to accept repatriations of their nationals without a legal basis to remain in the US.

This was one tool among many that the US used to reduce irregular migration, promote the use of safe, lawful and orderly pathways, and hold transnational criminal networks accountable for smuggling and exploitation of vulnerable people, it said.

Over the last year, DHS has removed individuals from a range of countries worldwide, including Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Egypt, Mauritania, Senegal, Uzbekistan, China, and India.