At least 42 Indians are detained in a facility in New Mexico for illegal entry into the United States, in the second such episode that has come to light this week.
Earlier this week, it emerged that 52 Indians were detained in a federal prison in Oregon.
The U.S agencies enforcing immigration do not automatically notify missions of the countries from where the detainees come. Indian officials approached the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after hearing from community leaders, about the new batch of detainees. The ICE confirmed that at least 42 of the detainees at the Otero County Detention Centre in New Mexico, not far from the El Paso border crossing from Mexico, are Indians.
It is likely that more cases of Indians being detained will emerge, as the Donald Trump administration continues with its ‘zero tolerance’ enforcement of immigration laws.
“We have established contacts with both the detention facilities. A consular official has visited the detention facility in Oregon and another one is scheduled to visit the detention facility in New Mexico. We are monitoring the situation,” the Indian Embassy in Washington said in a statement.
It is unclear whether the detainees want any consular assistance at all or not. The detention centres allow detainees to contact anyone they want, but they can refuse to meet or talk to visitors. The news of the new batch of Indian detainees emerged from Indian Americans who spoke to them in recent days.
Indian officials tracking the developments said it was unclear when these people were detained. The ICE has provided Indian missions with names of the detained people in Oregon and New Mexico.
Most of the detainees are single men
Contrary to earlier reports based on information from the U.S lawmakers who visited the Oregon detainees, there is no separation of families or children from their parents. It, however, remains unclear whether these people were taken in while illegally crossing into the U.S., or were picked up from communities.
“From what we understand now, these are single men. And they seem to have paid large amounts of money to touts who helped them cross into the U.S,” a source familiar with the developments but did not want to be named told The Hindu.
Most of the detainees are Sikhs from Punjab and a handful are Christians from Andhra Pradesh. The U.S. lawmakers who met the Oregon detainees had said they were seeking political asylum in the U.S., claiming that they were victims of religious persecution in India. If they are indeed seeking political asylum, Indian missions would have no role to play. Asylum claims are adjudicated by the U.S immigration authorities.
