In recent years, the United States has seen an unprecedented increase in undocumented migrants from India, most of whom enter through Mexico.
But as the U.S.-Mexico border faces increasing pressure, many are turning to a less conventional path: crossing the border with canadawhich is long and poorly monitored.
In fiscal year 2023, US border agents encountered almost 97,000 undocumented Indian migrants nationwide, including more than 30,000 on the northern border, up from 2,225 in 2021, according to data from Customs and Border Protection (CBP). ).
The numbers have continued largely unabated in recent months. Between October and February, almost 14,000 Indians were found on the US-Canada border, compared to 619 in the same period two years earlier.
The record influx is part of a migratory rush across Canada that has overwhelmed border security officials and unstable communities in the northern states of the United States. CBP data shows there were nearly 190,000 encounters at the Canadian border in 2023, more than six times the number in 2021.
He end of the COVID-19 pandemic has generated an increase in global migration. While people migrate for different reasons, experts say many migrants feel attracted to the United States over the Biden administration's perceived openness to asylum seekers.
“In general, people are looking to come to the United States because they have heard about the asylum process here,” he said. Chirag Patela Maryland-based immigration attorney who handles Indian asylum cases.
Patel and other experts say the flow of asylum seekers to the border will likely continue as they anticipate possible policy changes with the November U.S. presidential election.
“People are trying to get a lot of things done before November, but also obviously before January, just in case November ends up going in Trump's favor,” Patel said.
The flood of Indian asylum seekers entering the country, once a trickle, shows the changing face of unauthorized migration to the United States.
“They come from all over the world, literally from all over the world,” said Muzaffar Chishti, senior researcher at the Migration Policy Institute.
The rise in unauthorized Indian migration has made Indians the third largest group of undocumented immigrants in the United States. In 2021, there were about 725,000 undocumented Indians, more than in any other country outside the Western Hemisphere, according to a recent report from the Pew Research Center.
Although many have genuine claims of persecution, experts say Indian asylum seekers are predominantly economic migrantsattracted by the prospect of a better life in America.
Most are relatively well-off by Indian standards and come from Punjab and Gujarat, two of India's most prosperous states with a long history of immigration to the United States.
“One of the mistakes we make is thinking that it's the poor who migrate,” said Devesh Kapur, director of Asia Programs and Starr Foundation Professor of South Asian Studies at Johns Hopkins University. “Poor people in South Asia simply cannot afford to take a flight.”
But those who can often lack a legal path to the United States. US student visas are difficult to obtain, and due to the massive backlog of immigration cases, an immigrant visa can take up to 20 years to obtain.
That leaves the “donkey route” as the only option for many Indians eager to reach America. The sometimes dangerous journey across several continents, widely publicized on social media, is facilitated for a hefty fee by global human trafficking networks.
The cost of reaching the US can exceed $50,000, but even a small-scale owner in Punjab can afford it. An acre of agricultural land in the fertile state can fetch the same price, Kapur said.
Although Indian migrants often take the “donkey route” of reaching Mexico to cross into the US, many consider Canada to be a faster and safer option, according to experts.
Political scientist Shinder Purewal said the current Canadian government's push to attract international students has made it easier for Indians to get visas.
“It's easier to get a visa for Canada than for Pakistan,” said Purewal, who teaches at Kwantlen Polytechnic University in Surrey, British Columbia.
Until recently, Indians often moved from Canada to the United States when they couldn't obtain Canadian residency, Purewal said.
“Now more and more people are coming into Canada, so they can go directly to the United States because the economy is better, the employment prospects are better there,” Purewal said.
Canada's immigration agency did not respond to a request for comment.
But economic prospects are not the only reason why Indian migrants choose the US. The support of the Indian communities established in that country also influences their decision.
A smuggling ring recently discovered by American investigators transported Gujarati migrants from the Canadian border to business establishments owned by Gujarati-Americans in the Chicago area.
“People who come have a way of coming,” said Pawan Dhingra, associate provost and associate dean of the Amherst College faculty who teaches immigration studies. “They have a connection to the country. If it was just about escaping India, they could go anywhere in the world.”
Despite its reputation for safety, crossing the Canadian border has occasionally proven fatal for Indian migrants.
In January 2022, an Indian family of four was found frozen to death in Manitoba, just meters from the US border. In March 2023, the bodies of eight migrants, including four Indians, were recovered from the St. Lawrence River.
Maureen Silcoff, a Canadian refugee and immigration lawyer, said the extreme risks migrants face show their dire need to flee hardship.
“People don't just pick up and leave their homes, their communities, their families, their jobs for the feeling of wanting an exciting adventure,” Silcoff said in an interview. “People get desperate and sometimes people are subjected to very serious human rights abuses, and they try to alleviate those kinds of problems and other difficulties by moving to another country.”
The Indian embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment.
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