Why are More Undocumented Indian Immigrants Entering the US on Foot

What’s in today’s article?

• Why in News?
• Data on Undocumented Indian Immigration to US:
• Factors Responsible for the Undocumented Indian Immigration to US: 
• Why has there been an Unprecedented Growth of Undocumented Indians Crossing US Borders in Recent Years?

Why in News?

According to new data from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection, an unprecedented number of undocumented Indian immigrants are crossing U.S. borders on foot.

Data on Undocumented Indian Immigration to US:

• In the fiscal year 2022-23, 96,917 Indians entered the US without papers. It marks a fivefold increase from FY 2019-20, when just 19,883 Indians entered the US without papers.
• Out of the nearly 97,000 encounters in FY 2022-23, 30,010 were at the Canadian border and 41,770 at the Southern border.

Factors Responsible for the Undocumented Indian Immigration to US: 

• Overall growth in global migration since the pandemic: The number of undocumented Indians in the US has been climbing since borders opened post-Covid, with 30,662 encountered in the FY 2021 and 63,927 in the FY 2022.
• Unregulated travel agencies in India: With social media-savvy groups mushrooming as travel agencies, hopeful migrants often pay their life savings to make the journey.
• Smugglers using increasingly sophisticated routes: From the Middle East to Europe to Africa/ South America to the south of Mexico to the northern cities of Mexico, and then finally to the U.S.
• Extreme visa backlogs: Why would one wait for a visitor visa in Delhi if s/he can make it faster to the Southern border of the US?
• Unguarded Canadian border:
  • Canada offers the ideal combination of an accessible visa and a soft border.
  • It’s a much safer option than taking one of those ‘dunki’ (illegal) routes via West Asia, Africa or the Caribbean, to join the crowd waiting to cross the heavily guarded Mexico border

Why has there been an Unprecedented Growth of Undocumented Indians Crossing US Borders in Recent Years?

• Push factors:
  • Oppression of minority communities in India. The recent spike might have something to do with worsening conditions for minorities like Muslims, Sikhs and Christians in India.
  • Farmers’ protests: The scale of the protests that followed a series of laws deregulating India’s agricultural sector in 2020, resulted in a spike in asylum claims.
• Pull factors:
  • The general success of Indian Americans in the US or of previous migrants who have taken the same journey are some of the factors that pull people in.
  • Decades-long visa backlogs have made it difficult for would-be immigrants to join their families in the US, leaving many with little recourse.

Q.1. Why are a growing number of Indians giving up citizenship?

A record number of 225,620 Indian Citizens have renounced their citizenship and have taken up foreign citizenship in 2022. The 'great Indian migration' is primarily believed to be an outcome of the search for better economic opportunities and improved social security.

Q.2. What are "donkey routes"?

A "donkey route" is a dangerous, circuitous journey that some people take to illegally immigrate to western countries, usually the United States. The term comes from the Punjabi word dunki, which means "to hop from place to place".

Source: Canadian visa in hand, record number of Indians illegally enter US, seek asylum in UK