AHMEDABAD: Diplomatic ties between India and Canada may have turned frosty, but those aiming for the backdoor route to the US through the North American country are anything but freezing in their tracks.
Data from US Customs and Border Protection shows that of the 8,076 Indians arrested for entering the country illegally through various routes in September – coinciding with the row over Canadian PM Justin Trudeau accusing Indian agencies of having a hand in terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar’s killing – 3,059 were caught on the US-Canada border.
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This is the highest number of such arrests in a month between October 2022 and September this year.
“Many illegal immigrants, primarily from Gujarat, have either settled in Canada or are awaiting an opportunity to enter the US. In August, 2,327 illegal immigrants were caught trying to cross over to the US. This number rose to 3,059 in September,” a source said.
Those arrested included four unaccompanied children. Four children were accompanied by a family member each, and 530 with their parents and siblings. The largest category comprised 2,521 single adults.
Illegal immigrants from India are known to typically cross into the US through the Mexican border rather than the Canadian one. But in September, the number of illegal immigrants arrested on the US-Mexico border – 3,862 – was nearly identical to those reported by US border protection.
Between February 2019 and March this year, 1.9 lakh Indians were arrested attempting to enter the US unlawfully.
The influx of illegal immigrants continues unabated, although several families have tragically perished during these journeys into the unknown.
In January last year, a family of four from Gandhinagar’s Dingucha village froze to death just 10m from the US-Canada border. A family from Mehsana drowned in the St Lawrence river while attempting to enter the US illegally in April this year.
Despite efforts by Gujarat Police and Indian, US, and Canadian agencies to curb illegal immigration, the tide seemingly brooks no stopping, a cop said.