Sixty eight Indian nationals have been taken into custody while allegedly trying to enter the U.S. illegally near Seattle in the U.S. state of Washington, American immigration department has said.
According to the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), at present 68 Indians are in custody at its contract detention centre in Tacoma, said Virginia Kice, ICE’s western regional spokesperson.
While their arrest dates vary widely, majority of them were taken into custody this year and about half were arrested in the last 30 days, she said.
Of the 68, about half were detained in the last one month while they tried to sneak illegally into the U.S. from across the border, said Satnam Singh Chahal, the director of U.S.-based North American Punjabi Association (NAPA) which obtained information from the ICE.
Most of them hail from Punjab, he said.
When undocumented immigrants move through government-run detention centres in the U.S., it can take months before they find out if they’ll be deported or allowed to stay in the country, Mr. Chahal said.
During this long wait, many become frustrated, he said.
