The number of immigrants from India entering the country illegally has increased nationwide, especially in Arizona, according to federal data released this week.
In March, nearly half of the 9,650 times border officials arrested illegal immigrants from India were at the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona.
Illegal immigration from India across the U.S.-Mexico border has increased since fiscal year 2020, when border officials arrested 1,120 Indian migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border. By last year, that number had increased to about 18,300. And this fiscal year, there were about 17,400 arrests in the first six months.
2018 was a record high of nearly 9,000 people, According to the BBC.
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According to the immigration policy, this increase is due to growing religious and political persecution of non-Hindus in India, lack of economic opportunities in the country, easing of pandemic restrictions on travel and long queues for legal immigration. may be due to an outstanding extension of the United States that created the Institute.
Religious minorities, including Muslims, Christians, low-caste Hindus, political activists and members of the LGBTQ community, feel the most pressure to immigrate, says Jeanne, Senior Policy Analyst at the Migration Policy Institute. Batalova said.
One of the reasons Indians come is because there are already many Indian immigrants in the United States. This is her second highest after Mexican immigrants, many of whom arrive through official channels as highly skilled workers, to obtain higher education or to become part of their families. The community is also well-established and relatively wealthy compared to Indian immigrant populations in other countries, Batalova said.
“So people come to the U.S. and they have relatives and friends. They have a community that they can trust in terms of finding ways to finance their trips and ways to support them once they are here,” said Batalova. Told.
One of the reasons for the increasing number of Indian immigrants is said to be the ‘ripple effect’ that occurs when successful users of human smuggling services recommend the services to friends and family who have returned to India. Migration Policy Institute analyst Jessica Volter told the BBC. .
Although most cross the border and are processed and served in southern Arizona, many of the migrants are located in more established states within the country, primarily in California, New Jersey, Texas, Illinois, and New York. It may move quickly to a community that has A small community in Arizona, according to Batalova.
“I am convinced that new arrivals are largely drawn to these communities because when immigrants arrive they generally tend to go where they already have family and friends,” she said. “So at least there will be people they can go to. There will be a community 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, Batalova said, immigration from India is on the rise as post-pandemic demand stagnate. India has a high number of visa applicants and the process may be delayed. Some people have waited so long for some kind of visa that they have desperately chosen to travel undocumented.
There is also a perception that the door may be closed if the US administration changes to one with anti-immigration rhetoric, she said.
The Pima County Immigration Services Center, operated by Southern Arizona’s Catholic Community Services, has been receiving approximately 400 to 500 immigrants of various nationalities per day this month. Women and children usually go to Casa Her Aritas or elsewhere in the county, while single men stay at the recently opened Drexel Centre.
Of the 4,670 illegal immigrants who entered Arizona in March and were arrested, more than 88% were single adults, not family members. A high percentage of families come to the United States from South American countries such as Ecuador, Brazil and Colombia, as well as Ukraine and Russia.
As of earlier this month, up to 85% of single men served through Pima County were from India, with a significant number of immigrants also coming from African countries. Accepting more immigrants from more countries means accommodating more languages, cultures, religions and dietary requirements.
Growing General Anxiety of Migrants
Many attributed the recent policy changes made by the Biden administration to the number of immigrants entering the United States illegally after two months of decline, but the number increased in March.
Border officials said the 20% increase to about 258,000 arrests compared to typical movement patterns seen entering the warmer months suggests that recent border enforcement measures “remain strong.” It is maintained by the statement said.
CBP Acting Secretary Troy Miller said in a statement: “Individual encounters at the southwest border in March declined 23% year-over-year as we continue to meet the challenges presented by rising global immigration. ‘ said. .
In Arizona, arrests increased 38% to nearly 49,000. The largest nationality involved was Mexican with about 23,400 arrests, followed by about 4,750 Peruvians, followed closely by Indians.
Mexican prosecutors say they have identified eight people who may be behind the deaths of 39 people who died in a fire at a detention center near the US border.
