The number of undocumented Indians crossing over from Canada to the US on foot has reached an all-time high, according to the latest US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data.
At least 5,152 undocumented Indians have entered the US from Canada on foot this June alone. The monthly number of Indians entering the US from Canada has surpassed those crossing over from the notorious Mexico route since December 2023, as per the US CBP data.
This spike has placed Canada’s visa screening process on the radar mainly due to parallel concerns over Canada-bound Indian passengers seeking asylum in the UK while in transit.
The average monthly number of Indians caught in “encounters” (detained, expelled, or refused entry) at the US border with Canada during January-June this year increased by 47% to 3,733 from 2,548 in 2023. This is also a 13-fold jump from 2021, which stood at 282, according to US CBP data.
These numbers assume significance given the stark contrast they present with the rising economic clout of the legally settled Indian population in the US.
Indian Americans make up only 1.5% of the US population but pay about 5-6% of all income taxes there, according to a recent study by Boston Consulting Group.
Stretching over nearly 9,000 km, the US-Canada line is the longest open border in the world, more than twice as long as the Mexico span — and, incidentally, nearly thrice the length of India’s 3,400 km border with China.
Also, corresponding data from across the Atlantic shows that the number of Indians seeking asylum “at port” in the UK saw a 136% spike in 2022 (1,170) over 2021 (495) before going up further in 2023 (1,319). This year, 475 asylum seekers have already been recorded “at port” until June.
A “significant share” of these applicants are Canada-bound transit passengers with a stopover in the UK. “IRCC is not in a position to comment on details of any engagement with the UK or the US at this time. Canada is working to better understand the factors and facilitation networks that are behind these activities so we can adjust accordingly,” said a spokesperson for Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.
“This process includes the analysis of data related to the flows in question drawn from existing information sharing arrangements… and the identification of opportunities to strengthen collaboration,” he added.
Meanwhile the UK Home Office has said that it was committed to prevent abuse of the system.
“Every asylum claim is carefully considered on its individual merits by assessing all the evidence provided by the claimant against a background of published country information and a wide range of recognized and publicly disclosable sources,” it said.
The US Embassy in Ottawa declined to comment on “internal diplomatic discussions”. “The US continues to enforce immigration law, and our borders are not open for those without a legal basis to enter the country. The Department of Homeland Security is removing Indian nationals without a legal basis to remain, including via charter removal flights.” said a CBP spokesperson.
‘Accessible visa & a soft border’
Canada offers the ideal combination of an accessible visa and a soft border, according to an immigration consultant registered with the Canada Regulatory Council.
“It’s a much safer option than taking one of those illegal routes via West Asia, Africa or the Caribbean, to join the crowd waiting to cross the heavily guarded Mexico border,” he said.
Canada itself is witnessing a dramatic rise in asylum claims from Indian nationals, according to its Refugee Protection Division (RPD). Compared to 9,060 claims received in 2023, the January-March quarter alone attracted 6,056 claims from Indians this year, media reports said.
The upward swing took off in 2017, around the time Canada relaxed its visa policy to woo foreign students. Between 2016 and 2022, official records show that the number of international students in Canada surged by 61% from 5,23,971 to 844,444, and their overall spending shot up from $15.5 billion to $37.3 billion.
Even though growing evidence of visa abuse forced a recent course correction — from raising cost-of-living requirements for students to curbing visa caps and work permit extensions — Indian immigrants venturing into the US on foot had already shifted considerably to the northern border, beating Mexico’s numbers by December 2023.
The northern border emerged twice as busy (22,398 encounters) as the southwestern border (11,052 encounters) during January-June 2024.
At the same time, the US Presidential Proclamation in June to temporarily suspend the entry of certain non-US citizens and the complementary mechanism of linking asylum eligibility to the volume of encounters helped slash the number of encounters at the Mexico border by more than 50%.
These restrictions, however, do not apply to the northern border.
“Entering from the southern border is much more dangerous and harder given that this border has much stronger border
security,” said Professor Devesh Kapur, who teaches at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.
“If one can get a Canadian visa easily then it makes more sense to come from the northern than the southern border,” he added.
Last year, 28 members of the US Congress launched the Northern Border Security Caucus, a coalition pushing Homeland Security against the increased human and drug trafficking. It also highlights the decrease in Border Patrol agents and lack of security.
“Migrants from the US in the past moved northward but now there are few opportunities to stay and work in Canada,” said political scientist Shinder Purewal, who served as a Citizenship Judge in British Columbia, Canada, according to media reports.
“Since visiting visas, and student visas until recently, were relatively easy to obtain, people landed in Canada and moved down South to settle,” he added.
‘Indians top five asylum seekers in UK’
The jump in the number of Indians stands out among the top five asylum seekers by nationality in the UK.
The annual number of Indian asylum seekers at UK ports increased 11-fold — much ahead of Pakistan nationals, who recorded a five-fold rise, and Afghan nationals at 15% between 2018 and 2023, according to media reports.
Canada border may be attracting undocumented Indians to the US but the UK lure is the exemption for Canada-bound Indians from obtaining transit visas for London stopovers.
“Indians holding a valid visa for the USA, Canada or Australia do not need to apply for a transit visa while changing flights at Heathrow (London). Indians are exempt from the transit visa requirement in Zurich (Switzerland) and Amsterdam (Netherlands) as well, but not in Frankfurt (Germany),” an Indian newspaper website quoted an immigration consultant as having said.
In the UK, the number of Indian asylum seekers “at port” peaked at 930 in 2003 before declining to 102 in 2005. It did not go past the 100 mark until 2019. But at least 318 Indians sought asylum in three months in the last quarter of 2021 after the Covid restrictions were eased. It has been an upward since that year.
