The US authorities encountered with over 200,000 illegal Indian immigrants in the last five years, according to details furnished in Parliament by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) while citing data from American Homeland Security.
Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan said the US authorities came across 8027 illegal Indian immigrants in 2018-19, 1227 in 2019-20, and 30,662 in 2020-21. The number in 2021-22 was 63,927 while 96,917 cases were reported in 2022-23.
The Minister said the data regarding the number of illegal Indian immigrants encountered by US authorities are based on immigration statistics published on the website of the US Customs and Border Protection. The data is as per the US fiscal year (October to September), he added.
Muraleedharan said details regarding the number of Indian nationals who lost their lives while crossing the US border are not available. “The government accords highest priority to the safety, security, and well-being of Indian nationals abroad,” he further said.
The Minister said the MEA has taken several initiatives to promote legal migration. He further said that India inked migration and mobility partnership agreements with France, the UK, Germany, Australia, Austria, and Italy with an aim to harness India’s demographic dividend.
Muraleedharan said labour mobility partnership agreements or memorandum of understanding have also been signed with Denmark, Japan, Portugal, Mauritius, and Israel.
