The US Senate passed a bill named the Laken Rilay Act.
New Delhi: One of the dreams of Indians is to go to America. However, to fulfill this dream, some Indians often take illegal routes which have been labelled as illegal by the Donald Trump, the new President of the United States.
In this context, illegal Indian immigrants heading to America will now have to be cautious, as Trump announced tightening measures against illegal immigrants as soon as he took office.
You may be surprised to know that Indians constitute the third largest population of illegal immigrants in America. Let’s find out what the future holds for illegal immigrants in America now.
According to new estimates from the Pew Research Center, the third largest population of illegal immigrants in the U.S. is Indians, with approximately 725,000 Indian illegal immigrants, after Mexico and El Salvador.
What is the Laken Riley Act, which increased this threat?
US President Donald Trump has been calling illegal immigrants in the USA as infiltrators since winning the election. It was only after Trump was sworn in as president that the US Senate passed a bill on illegal immigration. The bill was passed 64-35. This bill has been named the Laken Rilay Act.
From 2007 to 2021, nearly every region of the world has had large increases in the number of immigrants entering the U.S. illegally, with the largest increases occurring in Central America (240,000) and South and East Asia (180,000).
Most immigrants come from Mexico and El Salvador. The report states that the number of unauthorized Mexican immigrants living in the USA surpassed 4.1 million in 2021. This number was the lowest since the 1990s. Meanwhile, there has been an increase in the number of illegal immigrants from El Salvador (800,000) and India (725,000).
The states with the highest number of illegal immigrants
According to the report, the six states with the largest unauthorized immigrant populations in 2021 were California (1.9 million), Texas (1.6 million), Florida (900,000), New York (600,000), New Jersey (450,000), and Illinois (400,000).
Other countries with the highest number of unauthorized immigrants are Guatemala (700,000) and Honduras (525,000).
What is Trump’s agenda that has Indians worried?
There has been an increase in illegal immigrants from almost every other region of the world, including Central America, Caribbean countries, South America, Asia, Europe, and sub-Saharan African countries. Meanwhile, the government agency dealing with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has created a list of about 1.5 million people who are living in the U.S. illegally. In this matter, ICE has stated that deporting undocumented immigrants is part of Trump’s border security agenda.
The number of criminal immigrants in America is 655,000 who have criminal charges or have been convicted. After that, attention will be given to the 1.4 million people who have been ordered for deportation after legal proceedings.
The donkey route is becoming a means for illegal immigrants. The donkey route or donkey flight is a way to illegally travel from one country to another. This route leads to the United States, Canada, and some European countries. The donkey route means a backdoor way to go abroad. Every year, thousands to millions of people adopt the illegal method of the ‘donkey route’ or dunki route to go abroad. It is extremely dangerous and life-threatening. There is no guarantee of reaching the destination.
The dunki route is the most dangerous. Travel agents arrange direct flights for Indians from Delhi to Serbia, where they would land in Belgrade. After that, they would be taken to Hungary and then to Austria. Austria shares its border with Italy, Switzerland, and Germany, allowing Indians to reach there illegally. After crossing the jungle of Panama, the next stop is Guatemala. Guatemala is the largest hub for human trafficking, where dunki people are handed over to another agent. From here, they are taken to Mexico.
In an attempt to enter America, Indians are caught at the Mexico border. According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (USCBP), Indian nationals are the fifth largest group of illegal immigrants entering the U.S. through the southwest border.
Between October 2022 and September 2023, 96,917 Indians were caught crossing the border illegally into the U.S. Of these, 30,010 were caught at the Canadian border and 41,770 at the Mexico border. According to USCBP, between February 2019 and March 2023, 149,000 Indians were detained while attempting to enter the U.S. illegally, with most of them coming from Gujarat and Punjab.
