10,300 Indian illegal immigrants caught at US border in 2025. That's a 70% dip

India Today

3 days ago

There has been a 70% decline in Indians attempting to illegally enter the US between January and May 2025, with 10,382 Indian nationals, primarily from Gujarat, arrested during this period, seeking to enter the United States. This also included 30 unaccompanied minors.The development comes amid tighter border controls and raids on illegal immigrants under President Donald Trump.The data was released by US Customs and Border Protection (USCBP).advertisement
This is a substantial decrease from 34,535 arrests between January-May 2024 to 10,382 in the same period in 2025, averaging 69 daily arrests. During the same corresponding period in 2024, the daily arrest average was around 230 under the Joe Biden administration.Anticipating Donald Trump's return to power, many of these smuggling syndicates began scaling back their operations in late 2024, according to a report in The Times of India."The moment it became clear Trump would likely win again, routes started drying up," a source connected to a Gujarat-based human smuggling ring told TOI.The desire to migrate remains strong, but smugglers have either reduced their activity or increased their fees, and fears of tougher deportation policies are very real, according to the source.USCBP data also reflects a wider drop in border apprehensions across all nationalities – from 81,492 in January down to 28,617 in February – while it remained over 29,000 in the next three months. A total of 590,069 illegal immigrants were caught while entering the US, according to the data.advertisementA total of 1,233,959 illegal immigrants were caught during the same corresponding period in 2024.DATA OF UNACCOMPANIED MINORS FROM INDIAIn fiscal year 2024, US authorities apprehended over 500 unaccompanied Indian minors. Now, under the Trump administration, there's a much tougher stance on "unaccompanied children" left at the border by their parents.Thousands of individuals, including those from India, leave their children on the US-Mexico or US-Canada border in the hope that they will be taken in and granted American citizenship.Reports suggest children are often in the age bracket of 12-17, but sometimes they are younger also.According to an April 2024 report by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), there are an estimated 2.2 lakh (220,000) undocumented Indians living in the US. Since January 2025, more than 332 Indians have been deported.Yet, people from India keep trying to enter the US, often via perilous routes. Migrants sometimes take risky sea routes offered by smugglers to bypass heavily fortified land borders. On May 9, a tragic boat accident occurred near Del Mar, California, in which a 14-year-old Indian boy and his 10-year-old sister died off the coast of California.These boats often depart from Mexico's coast, sometimes travelling hundreds of miles.advertisementSince October 2024, the US Coast Guard has tracked 277 vessels suspiciously entering US waters from Mexico in the San Diego area.- Ends