He wanted to go to America for business. It did not go as planned. The agents promised him America. What they delivered was something else entirely. He saved, paid up and trusted the wrong people. The American dream ended in deportation.
Samir (not his real name) who was deported from the US has filed a criminal complaint at Adalaj police station in Gandhingar against four agents. He alleged they cheated him of crores, forged his documents and forced him into conditions he described as slavery. He also told police that the main accused is linked to the Dingucha tragedy in which four members of a family froze to death trying to cross into the US illegally.
Vibes of India has been reporting how the hunger for a better life in the US is being ruthlessly exploited by those who profit from other people’s desperation. The stories keep coming. And each one is a reminder of how far people will go — and how much they will risk — to chase a dream.
The man said he came into contact with a network that claimed it could get him to the US legally. One of the accused spelled out the terms: Rs 3.20 crore for him and his parents to make the journey, plus 1% interest on that amount every month. He agreed. He was told he would find work in the US and could repay the money from his earnings.
The documents the agents arranged were forged. Fake stamps had been put in the passports to build a fabricated travel history for the visa applications. When he flagged this, one of the accused told him plainly that every stamp in the passport was fake.
The family was routed through Canada first. Their visas were cancelled there and they were left to seek asylum.
An intermediary then took over, guiding them to cross the US border on foot in the middle of the night. Once inside, they were taken to a city and put to work (14 to 16 hours a day). The promised wage was $10 an hour. It was soon cut to $3.
When he objected, the accused told him he would work there like a slave. He was warned that false cases would be filed against him in the US if he tried to leave. His relatives back in India, he was told, would be harmed if he went to the police.
He was deported and came back to India in September 2025. His parents are still believed to be in the US. The family had already paid around Rs 1.95 crore. The accused were still demanding Rs 2.7 crore.
Police have registered the case under charges of cheating, human trafficking, extortion and criminal intimidation.
However this case has once again opened up a Pandora’s box. If Gujarat is so vibrant and India is witnessing Acche Din, why are people migrating to America resorting to risky and often fatal means.
The numbers are striking. US Customs and Border Protection recorded 90,415 Indian nationals attempting to cross into the US illegally during FY 2024, and of these, nearly half were Gujaratis. https://www.business-standard.com/india-news/10-indians-per-hour-caught-at-us-borders-over-90-000-arrested-in-fy24-124102500994_1.html
Out of these on an average, at least 10 Indians are caught every hour attempting to enter the US illegally, with around 50% from Gujarat. This is an established fact that Gujaratis are leaving the State in hordes. https://www.wionews.com/world/10-indians-arrested-every-hour-for-trying-to-illegal-enter-us-in-last-one-year-reveals-data-770753
These are only the ones caught — border security experts believe official numbers likely underrepresent the actual scale, as many who attempt the crossing evade detection altogether. Business Standard
Several Gujaratis resort to dangerous means to enter America. Illegally ofcourse. They pay crores to agents across countries in India, America and Canada for this. Dingucha is a case in example of risks Gujaratis take to enter the United States.
Dingucha, a small village in Mehsana district of Gujarat, became a grim symbol of this phenomenon. The village made headlines after its inhabitant Jagdish Bhai Patel, his wife Vaishaliben, and two children froze to death at the US-Canada border in an illegal immigration attempt gone awry. Not long after this tragedy, four Indians again from Dingucha village in died while crossing the US-Canada border.
The same village. The same fate. Twice. It speaks to a deeply entrenched culture of attempted emigration that not even death deters.
If Gujarat is so Vibrant as we are hammered, what are the reasons for this massive emigration?
Number one reason is uneven distribution of prosperity. Economic disparities and limited job opportunities drive many to seek better prospects abroad, even as the well-established Gujarati community in the US provides a strong support system, making the American Dream seem attainable. Even though Gujarat is economically better than most Indian States, the aspirational gap, the affluence of the previous generation of immigrants that has presented the “American dream” as feasible and palatable to the new generation is another reason people want to leave Gujarat.
Seeing cousins in New Jersey owning motels and sending money home creates a reference point that local opportunities simply can’t match in the minds of young Gujaratis.
As Newslaundry reported, governance failure in India is a strong reason that motivates people to move to America. A 60-year-old resident who sent his son and daughters to the US illegally says “the government takes care of everyone there; here, no one cares. This sentiment — despite Gujarat’s supposed governance model — is deeply telling.
Hence Gujaratis take the Donkey Route that involves
fake documents and misleading paper trails to bypass immigration controls. Smugglers charge anything from 1 crore to 3 crores per individual, mapping the road to the US via Canada or through the Turkey-Mexico route. Unlike Punjabis, Gujaratis do not want to go through Greece as it involves a lot of swimming.
In January 2024, Gujarat Police filed an FIR against 14 so-called immigration agents accused of operating fraudulent schemes to help individuals illegally migrate to the US. The case followed the interrogation of 66 passengers aboard a Dubai-Nicaragua flight grounded in France — an Airbus A340 carrying 303 Indians, stopped on suspicion of human trafficking
The process of being illegally sent to the US is called “kabootarbazi” in Gujarat, and Kalol town is the hub of such activities in the northern part of the state — a market where the American dream is literally “writ large,” with a hotel named Embassy and surrounding areas called “Dollar.”
“Yes, Gujarat is better than Bihar or UP but America is Dream”, says 19 year old Jitu Patel who cannot explain why he cannot settle down in Gujarat or else where in India with the money he is spending on agents and the risk he will take to enter the US illegally. This also means that it is not the poorest who are leaving Gujarat or India for America but those with just enough resources to afford the gamble.
Gujaratis account for approximately 20% of all Indians in America, dominating the hospitality industry and owning 22,000 of the 53,000 hotels in the US. The legal diaspora has built immense wealth and legitimacy — and that very success is what fuels the next wave of illegal attempts. The community’s success in America is simultaneously Gujarat’s greatest advertisement and its greatest drain.
The “Vibrant Gujarat” narrative is real in parts — but it has never fully addressed why so many of its people are willing to freeze to death in a Manitoba snowstorm rather than stay home.
Also Read: Dingucha: Where Death Is More Lucrative Than Life https://www.vibesofindia.com/dingucha-where-death-is-more-lucrative-than-life%ef%bf%bc/
