Illegal Immigration From India To US Doubled In 2022, US Government Data Shows
The recent mishap, in which an Indian man fell trying to climb a border wall in Texas, has brought the issue of illegal immigration from India to the US to the fore. This phenomenon has suddenly surged along the border with Mexico in the last two months.
Apprehended Indians doubled since last year
According to American government data, US Border Patrol intercepted 4,297 Indians crossing the Mexican border in October and November. Comparatively, 1,426 Indians were captured during those two months last year and 16,236 in the fiscal year ending in September.?
Overall, the number of Indians apprehended by US authorities on the border and elsewhere has doubled since last year.?
US authorities encountered 63,927 Indians who had entered the country illegally during the 2021-22 fiscal year that ended in September, a 109 per cent increase from the 30,662 they found the previous fiscal year, according to CBP data.
The data showed that 13,655 illegal immigrants from India were caught in just the last two months, compared to 6,865 during those two months in 2021. In the fiscal year 2019-20, the number of Indians illegally in the US who the CBP apprehended was only 19,883.?
Biden administration? struggling with surge
In 2019-20, there were only 646,822 encounters. The Biden administration, struggling to cope with the surge of people trying to enter the US illegally at the southern border, received a reprieve from the Supreme Court on Tuesday, even though it glibly opposed it.?
The illegal migration numbers are only those caught by the CBP and several more would have successfully evaded authorities. Also, the data did not include those who entered legally but overstayed their visas, making their presence in the country illegal.?
?In the 2019-20 fiscal year, 14,389 Indians were suspected of overstaying, up from 13,203 the previous year, according to the DHS data.During the US fiscal year ending September, 237 Indians had been caught there, compared to 42 in the previous 12 months and 129 in the period before that.?
Most of those caught by US authorities are released, usually with a notice to appear before an immigration judge. However, only a few are detained with little or no follow-up.?
34,230 asylum cases of Indians pending??
According to TRAC data, a database maintained by Syracuse University, 34,230 asylum cases of Indians were pending before Immigration courts last month.?
People can seek asylum on various grounds, including fear of religious or political persecution, domestic violence and threats due to sexual orientation but will have to prove it to a judge.
In the fiscal year 2019-20, 1,337 Indians were granted asylum, down from the 2,256 who received it the previous year.? ?
(With inputs from IANS)?
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