Indian families largely seeking economic opportunity or reunification with family in the US are driving a surge of migrants through the northern border with Canada, according to a media report.
So far this year, US Customs and Border Protection agents have had nearly 20,000 encounters with migrants between ports of entry on the northern border with nearly 60% of them with Indian nationals, according to NPR.
It’s not entirely clear what’s driving this 95% increase from last year, the network of public radio stations reported Tuesday from Plattsburgh, New York, a small upstate city half an hour from the Canadian border.
A fleet of jitney taxis offering migrants rides south to New York City is one clear example of the informal economy that’s sprung up following a significant increase in unauthorized crossings across the usually sleepy northern border over the last year and a half, according to NPR.
Most of the migrants crossing through Canada are Indian nationals. In June, unauthorized crossings of Indians hit an all-time high, with about 3,600 attempting to cross between ports of entry, it said.
READ: Nearly 97,000 undocumented Indian immigrants enter US (November 15, 2023)
The reasons for why most Indian immigrants come to the US varies, according to Pablo Bose, director of the Global and Regional Studies Program at the University of Vermont, as cited by NPR. “For some of the Indian families (the motivation) has definitely been economic opportunity, reunification with family,” he was quoted as saying.
Part of the reason so many Indians come to the US through Canada first is because of the northern neighbor’s favorable immigration policies, said Bose. For instance, until recently, migrants in Canada who were on a visitor’s visa could apply for a temporary work permit there.
Canada also has an express entry policy for skilled migrants who want to live there. Still they are crossing into the US as there are simply more jobs in more industries, he said.
“We have a significant swathe of Indians who end up broadly speaking in the services and hospitality industries, especially in larger cities like New York and Chicago where there’s an ability to disappear into the immigrant workforce,” Bose was quoted as saying.
He added migrants believe the US has more to offer than Canada, like lower taxes and higher wages. “It’s not lost on most migrants that the US dollar is 25% stronger than the Canadian,” Bose said.
Indian Taxi drivers are also doing good business ferrying migrants from India and other parts of the world from a Clinton County, New York, government building in Plattsburgh, to New York City.
“I rent a car, I come here,” Shivam, a 20-year-old driver from India who goes by only a surname, is quoted as saying. “So people coming, I’m just helping them.” But make no mistake, this is business, and business is booming, says NPR.
Shivam and other drivers charge anywhere from $150 to up to $300 per person for the six-hour drive to the Big Apple, according to NPR. There migrants will search for work or head to other cities across America.
Shivam himself crossed into the US illegally a few weeks ago, through the thick woods connecting Canada to upstate New York. He says it was challenging. “I had to walk through the forest and at night it’s dark and there’s lots of trees and bushes and the forest is full of mud because of the rain,” Shivam was quoted as saying.
He’s now awaiting a hearing in front of an immigration judge after claiming asylum in the US. But he admits, he came here mostly for work, and because “I get more opportunities in the US compared to Canada.”