Four young Gujarati men from a village in Gandhinagar stopped for petrol in Tennessee, USA in August. They never left the fuel station as free men. US immigration officers detained them there, and by the end of the same day, all four had been put on a flight to India.
The men were from Kalol taluka and were in their mid-twenties. According to media reports, they had entered the US in October 2024 through the “donkey route”, an illegal route used by agents to move people abroad without proper papers. They flew on a chartered flight arranged for the journey. Less than a year later, they were sent home.
Their case is not an isolated one. For many Gujaratis who live in the US without secure papers, the American dream now comes with the daily fear of being picked up.
Ordinary life, extra care
Some Gujarati migrants are changing even their simplest habits. Buying groceries, filling the car with fuel and depositing a salary are things most people never think about. For some migrants, these activities now feel risky because they fear that every transaction leaves a trail.
According to media reports, some are avoiding regular banking and thinking twice about renewing their work permits. Some asylum seekers are keeping a low profile, changing their phone numbers and staying away from immigration court hearings.
One of the most troubling cases is from Mehsana. A 34-year-old woman was detained at a shopping mall in Florida. She was deported along with her four-year-old son, who is a US citizen. The family now faces a difficult situation. A child who was born an American has been sent to a country he may barely know. However, his Gujarati mother could not abandon him because he depended on her.
Fear is also shaping the decisions of families who had settled in the US. A 45-year-old man from Mehsana went to America with his family in 2022. He said that he and his wife returned before Donald Trump returned to office because they feared stricter immigration action.
Apparently, their 19-year-old son stayed behind. However, the situation is different for their son, who is now avoiding court appearances because he is afraid of being detained. The parents are in India, while their son is in the US, and the family now lives apart.
This fear does not affect only people who came to the US seeking a better life. A person who chose to stay in America and seek asylum because of his political activities back home is also afraid of being deported, leading him to consider skipping his next asylum hearing.
To avoid being deported, reports suggest that he has changed his phone number and stopped accepting his salary by cheque, as it could be traced. Furthermore, he has also stopped paying taxes. Immigration lawyers warn that this plan has a serious flaw. Missing a court hearing can lead to a deportation order. Ironically, that is the very outcome he is trying to avoid.
These individual stories of Gujaratis living in foreign countries suggest how they are experiencing anxiety, constantly anticipating when and where they might be caught and deported back home, shattering their dreams of building a life abroad, particularly in the US.
Lawyers say tougher enforcement has made things harder, especially for people whose asylum cases are weak or whose status is unclear. Some people are rethinking their plans, even when avoiding official proceedings could create fresh legal trouble.
The wider picture
The fear is not only in the minds of Gujarati migrants. The state where the four men were detained has also seen heavy immigration enforcement. A report suggest Tennessee rank second only to Texas in the number of people ICE picks up directly from local jails.
This directly highlights the high level of immigration enforcement in the state, leaving Gujaratis in America feeling more fearful and anxious.
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