At least 149,000 Indians entered the United States illegally since 2019
These are mostly people from the western state of Gujarat. After receiving proper training and a fake visa for Canada or Mexico they attempt the crossing. The traffickers demand as much as 65,000 euros per person. The push to migrate comes from the community itself but also from the difference in wages.
Gandhinagar (AsiaNews) - Between February 2019 and March 2023, at least 149,000 Indians attempted to enter the United States illegally, according to data from the US Customs and Border Protection, one of the law enforcement agencies responsible for customs and border security.
These numbers are very high considering that they were recorded during the years of the Covid-19 pandemic, during which flights were suspended for a long time. Most of the Indians apprehended at the border (between the United States and Canada or between Mexico and Canada) come from the western state of Gujarat, where there are actual training camps run by traffickers to teach migrants to climb over walls and barbed wire barriers.
In January 2022, 5,459 Indians were detained for illegally entering US soil, of whom 708 were caught at the Canadian border. One year later there was a 36% increase, with 7,421 Indians apprehended in January this year, including 2,478 apprehended at the Canadian border.
In January last year, the spotlight was turned on this phenomenon after an Indian family from the village of Dingucha in Gujarat was found frozen to death at the US-Canadian border. After the incident, the Indian police had investigated the illegal immigration racket more thoroughly, discovering that human traffickers procure migrants with false passports and visas to the tune of around 65,000 euros per person.
The investigation also discovered that, hidden in farms and farmsteads in the north of the state, there are training camps that teach migrants to climb 15-metre high walls, crawl through barbed wire fences and run with heavy bags to learn how not to get caught by border police. "Those who want to migrate are trained to live with little water and food," the police had explained in December 2022 after revealing the existence of these camps. "They are taught to survive only on sweets and chocolates, while the children are given formula milk for days. This prepares them to handle adversity in case crossing takes time or they are forced to face hostile conditions."
Over the years, a paradoxical situation has arisen: on the one hand, according to US Census Bureau estimates, there are about 587,000 Indians living in the United States without documents, while there are at least 2.7 million on American soil with a regular visa, most of them after having obtained sponsorship from an employer for the temporary H-1B visa, granted to highly educated and skilled foreign workers. Indians are also the second largest nationality in American universities after Chinese students.
The migration route from Gujarat to the US is not a new phenomenon: 'The first phase began in the mid-1960s, when educated doctors and engineers emigrated to the US through legal means; that's when the brain drain started,' explained sociologist Gaurang Jani, who teaches at the University of Gujarat in Ahmedabad. "In the second phase, their extended families started moving once they got sponsorship. And in the last wave, all classes of Patidars started moving to the West and did not bother to accept jobs and perform tasks that they would have considered beneath their dignity back home'. The Patidars are a caste in Gujarat who are descendants of ancient landowners and who over the years have seen their income from agriculture decline.
Support (also economic) for the new migrants comes from the diaspora itself: on Hindu festivals, the temples receive large donations, which are then redistributed among the community remaining in India. In the village of Dingucha, almost everyone has a relative living in North America, and according to the police investigating the illegal immigration racket, it is sometimes the communities abroad that are the 'real agents helping people to migrate'.
But a decisive fact, of course, are the salaries: for a couple hired to work in an American motel, for example, earnings are about 200 dollars a day, or 14 thousand rupees, and board and lodging is included. In Gujarat, on the other hand, many struggle to earn even as little as 10-12 thousand rupees a month.
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