What is driving the huge surge in Indians illegally migrating to the United States?

On December 21, a charter flight carrying 303 passengers, mostly Indians, was grounded in France on suspicions that those on board were victims of human trafficking. The flight was headed from the United Arab Emirates to the Central American country of Nicaragua. The incident has once again put into focus the surge in Indians migrating without documents to the US.

Nicaragua is a transit point commonly used by handlers involved in undocumented migration.

Since 2020, undocumented migration of Indians to the US has seen a staggering rise. The reasons of this include lack of economic opportunities in India, religious and political persecution of minorities and lack of legal immigration channels to the US, say experts.

The ‘donkey route’

The grounding of the Nicaragua-bound flight is the latest in the spate of incidents that made news about Indians failing in their attempts to enter the US. In a more tragic episode in April, an Indian family of four was among the eight persons whose bodies were found in a marsh on the US-Canada border. Earlier, in January 2022, the Canadian Police had discovered the bodies of four Indians near the border. Seven others who had been travelling with them were detained by US authorities after they crossed the border.

Despite the risks of detainment...

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