Indians trying to enter the United States illegally have steeply increased. The data provided by the Border Patrol showed a significant rise in the number of Indian nationals unlawfully attempting to enter the US through ports of entry, the southern border, and via a rather less explored route, ie Canada-US border crossing.

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials have encountered at least 50 per cent more Indians trying to enter the US through Canada in the current fiscal year as opposed to 2023. 1,630 Indian nationals have been stopped from entering the US illegally between points of entry since October, a period of six months. Whereas 2,454 were apprehended in the previous whole year. Experts on the subject believe that the number is going to further rise before the next presidential election, due in November 2024.

But the story does not end here. Indians account for the third-largest group of undocumented immigrants in America. Earlier, TimesNow reported that there was a 6300 per cent rise in Chinese nationals who tried to chase the American Dream this year. The number of undocumented migrants found at ports of entry, or those who have arrived at an airport by plane, in pursuit of greater opportunities was 28,380 last year, according to data released by the CBP. Moreover, 14,168 Indian nationals tried to enter through ports illegally.

Comparing the situation at the northern border, 30,010 Indians were apprehended in 2023, a major jump in the numbers from where they were in 2021. The number at the peak of the COVID pandemic was 2,225. In the past, the Indian embassy had declared that it was assisting the US government in combating “illegal immigration and human trafficking” while promoting lawful admission.

“People are trying to get a lot of things in before November, but also obviously before January,” Voice America quoted a Maryland-based immigration attorney Chirag Patel as saying. Some experts suggest that wealthier Indian migrants prefer entering Canada first due to the ease of obtaining a visa, before crossing the northern border into the US, despite the widespread discussion about Indian nationals attempting illegal immigration through the difficult southern land border.