Indian Migrants Fuel Surge in Border Crossings Between Northern U.S. and CanadaExBulletin

A group of Indian and Haitian immigrants arrive at a bus stop in Plattsburgh, New York, on a Saturday afternoon in August. The migrants were met by Indian drivers who took them to New York for a fee. Sergio Martnez-Beltrn/NPR .

Switch Caption Sergio Martnez-Beltrn/NPR

PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. A group of immigrants from India get out of a minibus taxi next to the Clinton County, New York, government building in this small upstate town, a half-hour from the Canadian border.

They are quickly invaded by half a dozen Indian immigrants who have waited hours to take advantage of this business opportunity.

This fleet of taxi-buses offering migrants rides to southern New York is a clear example of the informal economy that has emerged following a significant increase in unauthorized crossings across the normally quiet northern border over the past year and a half.

“I rent a car, I come here,” says Shivam, a 20-year-old Indian driver who goes by only one last name. “So people come, I just help them.”

But make no mistake, this is business, and business is booming.

So far this year, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents have had nearly 20,000 encounters with migrants between ports of entry on the northern border.

This represents a 95% increase over last year.

It is unclear what is driving the increase, but nearly 60 percent of these encounters have been with Indian nationals.

Shivam and other drivers charge between $150 and $300 per person for the six-hour drive to the Big Apple. There, migrants will look for work or head to other cities across America.

What is behind this increase?

Shivam himself entered the United States illegally a few weeks ago, through the thick forests connecting Canada to upstate New York.

He said it was a challenge.

“I had to go through the forest and at night it is dark and there are many trees and bushes and the forest is full of mud because of the rain,” Shivam said.

He is now awaiting a hearing before an immigration judge after applying for asylum in the United States. But he admits he came here mainly to work and because he has more opportunities in the United States than in Canada.

Pablo Bose, director of the global and area studies program at the University of Vermont, says the reasons most Indian immigrants come to the United States vary and are different from those of Central and South Americans.

Migrants from these countries are often fleeing violence, government oppression and organized crime, which is why the U.S. southern border has seen an increase in unauthorized crossings through 2023.

In December, CBP officials reported nearly 371,000 encounters with undocumented migrants, a record high.

But those numbers have declined since the start of the year, partly because of increased crackdowns in Mexico and the Biden administration's measures limiting asylum eligibility.

At the northern border of the United States, the number of unauthorized crossings is insignificant by comparison.

This increase has nevertheless put some communities on edge.

Most migrants crossing into Canada are Indian nationals. In June, illegal crossings of Indians reached a record high, with about 3,600 attempted crossings between ports of entry.

For some Indian families, the motivation has certainly been economic opportunity, family reunification, Bose says.

He said part of the reason so many Indians come to the United States through Canada is the northern neighbor's favorable immigration policies. For example, until recently, migrants to Canada who had visitor visas could apply for temporary work permits.

Canada also has an express entry policy for skilled migrants who wish to live there.

So why are they crossing the border into the United States?

Bose says there are simply more jobs in more sectors.

“We have a significant portion of Indians who end up working in the service and hospitality sectors, especially in big cities like New York and Chicago, where they have the opportunity to disappear into the migrant workforce,” says Bose.

He added that migrants believe the United States has more to offer than Canada, such as lower taxes and higher wages.

Most migrants are not unaware that the U.S. dollar is 25 percent stronger than the Canadian dollar, Bose says.

People from all over the world use the northern border

Crossing the northern border is not without danger or ease.

Migrants may face freezing winter temperatures. They may also be denied asylum more quickly, on the spot, under a deal between the United States and Canada.

Yet many consider this route safer than traveling to the United States through dangerous regions of Central America or the Mexican desert.

Migrants from Venezuela, Nigeria, Haiti and other countries arrive at the Roxham Road border crossing in Roxham, Quebec, on March 2, 2023. Sebastien ST-JEAN/AFP via Getty Images/AFP .

. Sébastien ST-JEAN/AFP via Getty Images/AFP

Deivy Morales, a 25-year-old Venezuelan, knows this well. After two years of asylum proceedings in Canada, Morales, frustrated, decided to cross the border into New York State.

I came during the day and saw mosquitoes that looked like helicopters, Morales jokes.

He walked for about three hours through the woods until he was stopped by U.S. Border Patrol.

It was a familiar scene for him. A few years ago, Morales entered the United States illegally from Mexico. But he is back on American soil after his family moved from Venezuela to Chicago.

“I haven’t seen my family in almost three years,” Morales said. “I have to see them.”

As he looks for directions, an Indian taxi driver offers to take him south.

Morales says he only has 150 Canadian dollars. The Indian driver tells him that it is not good.

“We're in the United States, not Canada,” the driver tells him. Finally, he tells Morales he'll drive him.

Morales is then rushed to get into an SUV with a group of Haitian immigrants.

The driver, another Indian driver, tells him it's about a six-hour drive on I-87 to New York.

Other drivers remain at the bus stop, knowing that a new wave of migrants will soon arrive.

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