How the Canada border is becoming the preferred choice for Indians to illegally enter the US

In December 2023, Bollywood director Rajkumar Hirani through his movie Dunki shone light on the phenomenon of donkey routes — an illegal immigration technique to gain entry into countries like the United States, the United Kingdom and other countries.

And it seems that a record number of Indians are now using this technique to gain access to the US, using the less-explored Canada-US border crossing. The number of Indians using this route has surpassed the number of infiltrations from the more conventional path of using the Mexico border route.

This trend, which has been noted since December last year, now puts the focus on Canada’s visa screening process.

Here’s what we know so far.

Indians illegally in US, via Canada

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Data released by the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) reveals that an all-time high of 5,152 Indians attempted to illegally enter the US on foot using the Canada border in June alone. What is even more significant is that the number of Indians using the Canada border is considerably higher than the traditional Mexico route, as per an Indian Express report.

The US-Canada border is the longest open border in the world — over 9,000 kilometres long — and double the length of the US-Mexico border.

The Indian Express report citing CBP data states that the number of Indians caught at the US-Canada border between January and June 2024 has increased by 47 per cent — there were 3,733 incidents — compared to 2,548 last year for the same time period. Notably, there’s been a 13-fold jump compared to 2021.

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But this isn’t a new trend. In fiscal year 2023, US border agents encountered nearly 97,000 undocumented Indian migrants nationwide, including more than 30,000 at the Canadian border. And since then, the number of people using this border has been high. Between October 2023 and February 2024, nearly 14,000 Indians were encountered at the US-Canada border.

The rise in unauthorised Indian migration has made Indians the third-largest group of undocumented immigrants in the US. According to a Pew Research report, there were about 725,000 undocumented Indians in the US in 2021.

Why Canada though

But what is it about Canada that makes it a preferred choice for Indians to gain illegal entry into the US? An immigration consultant registered with the Canada Regulatory Council told Indian Express, “Canada offers the ideal combination of an accessible visa and a soft border. It’s a much safer option than taking one of those ‘dunki’ (illegal) routes via West Asia, Africa or the Caribbean, to join the crowd waiting to cross the heavily guarded Mexico border.”

Gaurav Khanna, an assistant professor of economics at the University of California at San Diego, whose research concentrates on immigration also concurred on this point. He told NBC News that the Canadian border has large stretches that are virtually unguarded at times.

Experts also note that using the Canada route is far safer than using various donkey routes. Political scientist Shinder Purewal told VOA News that many seek visas to Canada so that they can cross into the US.

However, the Canada route isn’t without peril. In February 2022, an Indian family of four with two young children was found dead near the US border with Canada. As per reports, they had made the journey from a village in Gujarat through a similar illegal pathway, but were separated from the rest of the group during a blizzard. Their bodies were found just 13 yards from the border.

Canada has seen a steady rise in Indians seeking visas, especially Indian students. In 2023, the number of Indian students in the North American country was nearly 319,000. However, the Justin Trudeau-led government earlier this year capped the number of approved study permits at approximately 360,000, a 35 per cent reduction from the previous year. Moreover, last week, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced a reduction in the temporary foreign worker visa programme.

Indians wishing for an American Dream

However, who are the Indians trying to gain illegal entry into the US?

Experts note that most of those who try to make their way into the US are those belonging to the states of Gujarat and Punjab. US investigators recently uncovered a smuggling network wherein Gujarati migrants were being ferried from the Canadian border to Gujarati American-owned business establishments in the Chicago area.

Moreover, the success of previous migrants draws others to make the journey and use the same route. As Gaurav Khanna notes in an NBC report, “People in Punjab might know people who went from their village, cousins and aunts and uncles and so forth,” Khanna said. “That creates more waves of movement.”

Some other experts also note that most of those who attempt to enter the US illegally are often from middle-class families. In many cases, they sell their land to pay for the journey, hoping that working in America will increase their wages, and produce a secure future for their children.

Devesh Kapur, a South Asian studies professor at Johns Hopkins University who focuses on the Indian diaspora, was quoted as telling the Washington Post that these migrants are “not the desperately poor”. Facing a shortage of attractive jobs and a struggling agricultural sector, they find that the wealth they have in India is not enough to transform their lives, and this creates “a culture of migration,” he said.

With inputs from agencies