Illegal Indian immigrants in the U.S. could be among the worst affected if Donald Trump implements harsh anti-immigration measures as the next President, says a recent study.
A report from the Latin American Social Sciences Institute, Mexico, has concluded that one-third of all Asian illegal immigrants who were detected while attempting to enter the U.S., between 2007 and 2015, were from India.
A total of 2,450 illegal Indian immigrants were apprehended by Mexican authorities before they reached the Mexico-U.S. border near the state of Texas, the study states. But in many cases, the detained illegal immigrants were let off as Mexican laws are ill-equipped to deal with the influx.
Prof. Rodolfo Cassilas, the author of the report, told The Hindu that Mr. Trump’s anti-immigration plans are radical and need greater international attention as they can potentially trigger a new kind of international crisis.
The trend of smuggling Asian nationals through Mexican border has been well established for the past few decades, said Mr. Cassilas. But Mexican society is now better informed and demands for stricter laws are growing also in Mexico, he added.
Transit route The public at large in Mexico learnt about Indians using their country as a transit route to the U.S. in 2010 when a drug cartel on Mexico-U.S. border killed 72 immigrants over an evident payments issue.
“One out of the 72 killed was from India and that is when the international dimension connecting South Asia with Central Asia became clear to the masses, but the government has not so far openly discussed the Asian dimension,” Mr Casillas said.
Smugglers coordinate “That illegal immigrants from India and the rest of South Asia in general reaching the U.S. shows coordination among transnational human traffickers located in Central America, Asia and the U.S. They can also move other things, drugs for example,” Mr. Casillas said. Both Mexico and the U.S. are aware of the utility that human traffickers have for serving other criminal network.
“For that, undocumented immigrants are so important for both Mexico and the U.S.,” Mr. Casillas said, explaining that the argument of greater security might be used to take anti-immigrant measures in the U.S. if Mr. Trump’s plan to become the U.S. President comes true.
Published - February 24, 2016 11:25 pm IST
