The number of immigrants from India entering the United States undocumented is increasing nationwide, especially in Arizona, according to federal data released this week.
In March, nearly half of the 9,650 times border officials apprehended undocumented immigrants from India were at the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona.
Undocumented migration of people from India across the U.S.-Mexico border has been on the rise since fiscal year 2020, when border officials apprehended Indian immigrants at the U.S.-Mexico border 1,120 times. By last fiscal year, that number had increased to about 18,300. And this fiscal year, there have been nearly 17,400 apprehensions in the first six months.
There was a previous high of nearly 9,000 in 2018, according to the BBC.
This increase may be due to growing religious and political persecution in India against non-Hindus, the lack of domestic economic opportunities, waning of pandemic restrictions on travel, and extended U.S. backlogs that have created long queues for legal immigration, according to the Migration Policy Institute.
Some people who feel the most pressure to migrate are religious minorities, such as Muslims, Christians and low-caste Hindus as well as political activists or members of the LGBTQ community, said Jeanne Batalova, senior policy analyst at the Migration Policy Institute.
One reason Indians come is because the U.S. already has a large Indian immigrant population, the second largest after Mexican immigrants, including many arriving through official pathways as high-skilled workers, for higher education, or to join family members. Also, the community is established and relatively well off compared to Indian immigrant populations in other countries, Batalova said.
“So people come to the United States, and there are relatives, friends — they have a community that they can rely on in terms of finding ways to finance the journey as well as support once they’re here,” Batalova said.
One reason the number of Indian migrants is rising is a “ripple effect” that happens when those who have successfully used human smuggling services recommend them to friends or family back in India, Jessica Bolter, an analyst at the Migration Policy Institute, told the BBC.
There is also an increasing social media and online market where Indian nationals are told that they can get into the U.S. without waiting for visas, says Caleb Simmons, University of Arizona associate professor of South Asian Religions and executive director of Arizona Online.
The people being given misleading information are typically some of the most vulnerable in some of the poorest states of India, Simmons says.
“Recruiters find people with little promise of economic success at home and lure them in with a promise of an expedited visa, often a student visa but not always,” he said. “This promise is part of the ruse and eventually the recruit is told that the visa was denied but that there is another way through the Mexican border.”
By this point, some have already spent thousands of dollars, which might come from their life savings or by selling family assets, and so they go ahead because they don’t see another option, he says. This trend has been on the rise for several years, and it only seems to be growing.
“This has caused the dramatic rise in the immigrants from India, who are often not fully aware of the illegality of their actions,” he said.
While a large portion of undocumented Indian immigrants are crossing the border and getting processed and receiving services in Southern Arizona, many of the migrants are likely to go quickly to more established communities around the country, which are primarily in California, New Jersey, Texas, Illinois, New York and smaller communities in Arizona, Batalova said.
“My bet is that the majority of new arrivals would gravitate toward these communities because what happens is that when immigrants arrive, in general, they tend to go to places where they already have family and friends,” she said. “So at least there will be people they can go to. There are communities where they can go to a temple, they can speak the same language, they can go to a doctor who speaks the same language.”
In addition, more immigrants from India are coming now because there is pent-up demand following the pandemic, Batalova said. The number of applicants for visas in India is large, which can delay the process. Some people have been waiting a long time for a visa of some kind, and so some choose to make the journey undocumented out of desperation.
There is also a perception that the door might close if the U.S. administration changes to one that has an anti-immigrant rhetoric, she said.
The increase has been evident at centers for migrant services in Pima County, run by Catholic Community Services of Southern Arizona, who this month have been receiving about 400 to 500 migrants a day, of all nationalities. Women and children usually go to Casa Alitas or one of the county’s other locations, and single men stay at the recently opened Drexel Center.
Of the 4,670 times undocumented Indian migrants were apprehended entering Arizona in March, more than 88% were single adults rather than families. There are larger percentages of families coming to the U.S. from South American countries such as Ecuador, Brazil and Colombia, as well as from Ukraine and Russia.
As of earlier this month, up to 85% of single men receiving services through Pima County are from India, and a significant number of migrants are also from African countries. Welcoming more migrants from a wider range of countries has meant accommodating more languages and cultural, religious and dietary requirements.
Overall migrant apprehensions increasing
After a two-month drop in the number of migrants coming undocumented into the United States, which many attribute to recent policy changes made by the Biden administration, March’s numbers are increasing.
Border officials say the 20% increase to nearly 258,000 apprehensions is relative to typical migration patterns seen as we enter the warmer months, and that the recent border enforcement measures “continue to hold strong,” a Customs and Border Protection statement said.
“Overall, in March, encounters of individuals on the Southwest border between ports of entry were down 23% from the prior year, as we continue to respond to the challenges presented by increasing global migration,” said CBP Acting Commissioner Troy Miller in the statement.
In Arizona the apprehensions increased by 38% to about 49,000 apprehensions. The largest nationality involved was Mexico at nearly 23,400 apprehensions, followed by people from Peru at about 4,750, and closely followed by people from India.
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