The menace of Indians attempting border crossings to the US, either from Canada or Mexico, is only growing by the day. Last year, it was reported that the number of Indians held by US authorities on the border had doubled since 2021. The American government data claimed that the US Border Patrol intercepted 4,297 Indians crossing the Mexican border in October and November, 2022.
Vibes of India, in its extensive coverage of this issue, has been highlighting how Indians, especially gullible Gujaratis, have been risking their lives chasing the American dream. Furthermore, these immigrants are duped by agents who assure them of safe passage to the US.
Now, children are paying the price for the ambition of Indians. Numbers obtained from the US Customs and Border Police (USCB) by a national daily reveal that 1,109 children were found stranded without help near US borders between October 2019 and March 2023. The US Office of Refugee Resettlement claims that these children were without documents and weren’t even accompanied by parents or guardians.
Claiming a nearly eight-fold rise in unaccompanied children found on the US borders, the report adds that in February 2023, 14 kids were found on the US border without documents. Thirteen of them were wandering on the US-Mexico border while one was found near the US-Canada border. The figure, the daily adds, rose to 104 in March. As many as 100 were found on the Mexico border and four on the Canadian border.
The illegal migration continued even during the peak of Covid. The figures state that 219 unaccompanied children were found in the US in the financial year 2020. In FY 2021, the USCB found 237 unaided children. FY 2022 recorded the highest number of 409 children. Already in the current financial year, 244 children were found crossing the border without protection.
The daily has highlighted how human traffickers have adult migrants and children pose as a family. This is a ploy by illegal travellers to ensure the US government, taking pity on the children, provides them refuge.
A police officer, who specialises in cases of human trafficking, was quoted as saying, “The adults and children undertake the perilous journey to the US-Mexico border. Before crossing it, the immigration agents pair one man, one woman, and two children — all unrelated to each other — to form a fraudulent family.
“If caught at the border, they present themselves as a family unit and seek asylum in the US. The American government sends them to a detention centre where the immigrants are given refugee cards. Ultimately, they get citizenship with legal aid from attorneys there.”
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