Indian families have reportedly frozen to death, drowned and been kidnapped by their smugglers as they tried to reach the US – and the number of those willing to risk their lives in their desperate quest is growing.
Indians are now the third largest group of illegal migrants to America.
According to a 2022 report by Pew Research Centre, there are 725,000 unauthorised Indian immigrants in the US, making them the third largest group after those from Mexico and El Salvador.
Last year, the US Border Protection Agency, part of the Department of Homeland Security, apprehended 96,917 Indians – a number that has tripled in just two years. And these are just the ones who got caught.
They go to any lengths, putting their lives in the hands of criminal gangs, to reach the shores of America. Some were kidnapped, others killed by the criminal gangs that had promised to smuggle them into the US.
A couple and their two children froze to death just a few metres from the US-Canada border in 2022, according to Sky News’ US affiliate NBC and other reports. Another family drowned trying to enter the United States from Canada by boat across the St Lawrence River, local media said.
Lucrative racket
The racket is estimated to be worth a billion dollars, with each hopeful paying anything from $50,000 (£38,000) to $100,000 (£76,000) for the chance to reach that dream destination.
The trade is so lucrative and demand insatiable that there are now thousands of traffickers involved, mostly in the northern Indian states of Punjab and Haryana.
Last December a chartered plane to Nicaragua made a technical stop at Valery Airport in France. Authorities detained all 303 Indian passengers onboard, suspecting they were being trafficked.
Joginder (not his real name), a trafficker, told Sky News: “I send about 500 every season, and there are three seasons in a year.
“Ask anyone who has a big house and they will say their child is abroad. It’s a fashion, a competition. Families sell their land, jewellery and even their homes to send.”
Joginder said that [not all] “reach their destination as 10 to 12% die on the way or are killed for not paying”.
He said: “The mafia control the borders. On the route many wrong incidents take place, and terrible things happen to women, I can’t say it here. But they have to bear it to reach America.
“We also feel the pain. For the family who loses someone, the pain is much more. But both feel pain. But it’s business, they want to go and I send them.”
‘Dunki flights’
‘Dunki flights’, a Punjabi phrase for ‘hopping routes’, is the most widespread means used.
Smugglers send migrants to countries with lax visa rules or easy access like Panama, Costa Rica, El Salvador, or Guatemala. From here they begin their long trek led by coyotes and controlled by criminal gangs.
The routes and their difficulties depend on the amount of money paid. Payments are made at predetermined stages during the journey, with the final amount handed over at the US border.
Indian authorities have recently started a crackdown on smuggler networks. But the pace and scale are overwhelming.
Ms Upasana, superintendent of police, in Kaithal, Haryana, tells Sky News: “It’s now a culture where people feel a sense of pride that their child is abroad.
“This year we have registered 46 criminal cases and arrested 75 people involved.
“Those abroad upload photos of themselves with big bungalows and cars and the youth get attracted and want the same.
“Children tell their parents, ‘Either I die or you send me’.”
‘I had lost all hope of living’
Subhash Kumar paid a gang $50,000 and was flown to Kathmandu, where he was kidnapped, threatened and held for ransom
One of those who tried, 36-year-old Subhash Kumar, says he’s lucky to be alive and wishes to erase the few weeks of his attempt at a ‘dunki flight’.
He spent his savings and borrowed money to pay a gang $50,000. He was flown to Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, where he was kidnapped, threatened and held for ransom on the outskirts of the city.
The gang used forged boarding passes and visas and filmed with false backgrounds to fake his arrival at the US border. The family paid the final amount to the traffickers.
“They would put a knife to my throat and threaten me to confirm things. I had lost all hope of living,” Mr Kumar said.
“I just wanted to speak to my wife and children for the last time. I was a dead man there. I had no hope.
“They even played airport announcements in the background while we spoke to our family, to show we had reached foreign cities.”
He was eventually rescued, along with 10 other Indians, when police, acting on a tip-off, raided the building and arrested the kidnappers.
But many are not as lucky.
‘Killed for money’
Malkeet Singh, a 30-year-old technology graduate, dreamed of going to America.
The family sold property and took loans to pay traffickers. He travelled to Doha, Almaty, Istanbul, Panama City and reached El Salvador.
He told his younger brother Rajiv they would begin trekking to Guatemala the next day.
Malkeit Singh reached El Salvador before his family lost contact with him
On 7 March all contact was lost. Three weeks later the family identified his body from a video posted on social media.
Rajiv said: “My brother was killed for money, the mafia gangs involved were robbing them and fired on the people and shot him.
“Whenever I spoke to my brother, he said that these traffickers would often steal and extort from people.”
The family lodged a case against the trafficker, who was caught and jailed – and eventually returned the money.
Blood money – recompense given to the relatives of someone who has been killed – was paid and the family withdrew the case.
For 45-year-old Shiv Kumar, it’s been a never-ending search for his 19-year-old son Sahil.
A life’s savings were spent in paying smugglers but Sahil’s last message – about starting the second leg of his journey – was from Libya almost a year ago.
Sahil Kumar’s last message – about starting the second leg of his journey – was from Libya almost a year ago
Mr Kumar regularly scans the news about migrant journeys. He filed a case against the trafficker who was caught and imprisoned – but is now out on bail. He’s reached out to all agencies, state and central government – the family is desperate for closure.
“Only a family knows what it’s going through when their son is lost.
“Every human being should have the satisfaction of knowing what happened to their child. Until today we don’t know if he’s dead or alive.”
Inequality driving the trend
Even as India registers one of the fastest economic growths and is the fifth-largest economy in the world, there is a massive imbalance and inequality.
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High unemployment, stagnant incomes and distress in the rural economy coupled with an American dream have led many to take these treacherous journeys.
Superintendent Upasana said: “It’s dangerous for India that its working population, its youth, our main productive young are going outside. They do not get any good job there. Recently we find them involved in making extortion calls to businessmen here in India.”
Trafficker Joginder said getting a child abroad ‘is a fashion, a competition’
In the Mexican town of Tapachula – a hub for travelling migrants – large numbers are from India, curry houses dotting the town. A Sky News team witnessed new arrivals, as all waited for the right time to make the journey.
But with the possibility of a Trump presidency, there is an urgency to cross.
Joginder said: “The last time under Trump the rules were made very strict. That’s why there is fear among many”.
The legal route to emigrate is crowded, difficult and slow. Those determined to make the journey are willing to pay any price.
“If I don’t do it then someone else will. This has always been happening and will go on forever.”