Border agents have recorded a sharp increase in Indians trying to enter the United States illegally from Canada, a trend that immigration lawyers expect to continue until the election.
There were 30,010 Indian citizens detained at the northern border in 2023, compared to just 2,225 two years earlier during the height of the pandemic, according to figures released by US Customs and Border Protection.
Another 16,622 have also arrived this fiscal year, which began October 1.
The data shows an increase in encounters at ports of entry, including airports, but also an increase in migrants arrested while trying to sneak into the country across the treacherous land border.
Indians represent the third-largest group of undocumented immigrants in the United States amid a booming industry in the country led by middlemen who charge up to $100,000 to help people reach the United States illegally.
The increase comes amid an overall increase in illegal crossings at the northern border, with migrants increasingly willing to brave harsh conditions to avoid the chaotic southern border.
A graph shows the increase in Indian citizens detained at the northern border. The data is for the fiscal year, which begins October 1.
An RCMP officer stops people entering Canada on Roxham Road at the Canada-U.S. border in Hemmingford, Quebec, Canada, Saturday, March 25, 2023.
Experts have said the increase in Indian immigrant crossings is part of a broader trend of increasing illegal migration to the United States in recent years.
The current crisis is primarily at the southern border, but some wealthier immigrants are choosing to enter Canada first, in part because it is easier to obtain a visa and then cross the northern border.
Many of the Indian citizens who choose the route “are not desperately poor” but come from middle-class families who hope to find more opportunities and better salaries in the United States, experts say.
Devesh Kapur, a professor of South Asian studies at Johns Hopkins University, told the Washington Post that India’s job shortage has contributed to a “culture of migration.”
In major cities, immigration agents offer transportation to the United States for fees in the tens of thousands of dollars. Some migrants pass through up to a dozen countries on their way before reaching Mexico or Canada and then entering the United States at a land border.
Chirag Patel, a Maryland-based immigration attorney, said Voice of America that more people could choose to cross before the next election. They may want to cross before a possible Trump victory, which would lead to stricter border policies.
“People are trying to get a lot of things done before November, but also obviously before January,” he said.
A breakdown of the data shows that in 2023, the Border Patrol detained 1,630 Indian citizens between points of entry, an indicator that a person is trying to sneak into the country undetected.
So far in 2024, the total is already 2,454 with six months remaining in the fiscal year.
Last year, the number of undocumented immigrants encountered at ports of entry, such as those who arrived at an airport by plane, was 28,380. So far this fiscal year, there have been 14,168 arrivals of undocumented Indian citizens at ports of entry.
The Indian embassy has said it is working with the US government to address “illegal immigration and human trafficking” while facilitating legal entry.
Shinder Purewal, of Kwantlen Polytechnic University in British Columbia, told Voice of America: ‘It is easier to get a visa for Canada than for Pakistan.
‘More and more people are entering Canada, so they can go directly to the United States’
Indian citizens are also crossing the southern border at unprecedented levels.
The Border Patrol detained 41,719 in 2023, more than double the previous year.
There has also been an increase among those from other Asian countries, including Chinese citizens.
DailyMail.com reported this week that Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has arrested nearly 25,000 citizens of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) since October.
The recent figures represent a 7,000 percent increase over the same period in 2021.
The Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Alejandro Mayorkas, insists that he reached a recent agreement with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for the United States to charter more flights to deport migrants from the country.
Border Patrol images show a group of people crossing the border from Canada into the US.
Pictured: Chinese immigrants are detained by CBP in Jacumba, California, on November 11, 2023.
CBP only detained 342 immigrants from China in fiscal year 2021 and 1,987 were detained in the following fiscal year cycle.
But the number of illegal immigrants from China increased in 2023: 24,125 crossed throughout the year.
The CBP data set includes only apprehensions of Chinese immigrants who crossed illegally and does not include ports of entry where tens of thousands of immigrants from the People’s Republic of China have crossed in recent years.
The increase in border crossings from the People’s Republic of China comes amid heightened tension between China and the United States.
The overwhelming majority of Chinese citizens crossing borders illegally are single adults, raising fears that some may be CCP spies.
Second. Mayorkas said last week during a House hearing that the United States has so far sent one flight of Chinese citizens back to the People’s Republic of China, and there are plans to send more.