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US sees mysterious surge of asylum seekers from India: Report
WASHINGTON: The United states has seen a mysterious surge of asylum seekers
from India entering America illegally through the southwestern desert state
of Arizona bordering Mexico, according to a media report.
Hundreds, and perhaps thousands, of Indians over the past year have asked
for asylum claiming to fear they may be persecuted if returned to their
country, the Arizona Republic published in Phoenix, said in an investigative
report.
They arrive after paying as much as $35,000 to be smuggled halfway around
the globe, flying from India to Central America and then embarking on an
arduous and often dangerous 3,000-mile journey through several countries,
including Mexico, to reach Arizona, it said.
Some have been caught crossing illegally by the Border Patrol. More often,
they are simply turning themselves in at legal border crossings in Nogales,
Arizona, asking for asylum based on claims of political persecution, the US
daily said.
On a nightly basis, as many as two dozen Indians who have managed to
establish so-called "credible fear" of persecution during hearings with US
immigration asylum officers are set free at a bus station near the Phoenix
Sky Harbour International Airport, it said.
Before their release, they are given notices to appear in immigration court
at a future date, when a judge will decide whether to grant asylum.
In addition to the many hundreds who have already been released, hundreds
more remain in detention centres in Eloy and Florence waiting for credible-
fear hearings, the Republic said.
It is unclear, however, whether those asking for asylum are legitimately
fleeing persecution and whether they intend to show up for their asylum
hearings, the daily said.
In fiscal year 2012, nearly 10 percent of Indian asylum seekers failed to
show up for their final asylum hearings in US immigration courts nationwide,
the daily said, citing the Department of Justice.
Homeland Security buses staffed by immigration and customs enforcement
officers, routinely bring recently released immigrants, who are deemed low-
flight risks and not a danger to the community, to the bus station so they
can arrange travel to meet relatives in other parts of the US.
About half the migrants getting off the buses each night are Spanish
speakers from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and other Central and South
American countries, the US daily said. The other half are Indians.
The Republic cited a US State Department spokesperson Nicole Thompson as
saying she is unaware of any mass conflict in India that would be
contributing to an increase in asylum seekers from India.
But India is a complicated country with a "great degree of variance
internally as far as the standard of living and income", she was quoted as
saying.
Department of Homeland Security officials cited by the Republic said they
are investigating the surge in Indian migrants at the Arizona border.
"DHS has implemented a collaborative, coordinated response to Indian
apprehensions along the Southwest border," US Customs and Border Protection
spokesman Victor Brabble was quoted as saying in a written statement.
That includes working with the governments of other countries to "analyse
potential threats" and "identity and dismantle human smuggling networks",
Brabble said.
The Arizona Republic said DHS officials refused its repeated requests to
provide statistics for the number of Indians who have asked for asylum in
Arizona, the number of Indians who have been held in detention and the
number who have been released after establishing credible fear.
WASHINGTON: The United states has seen a mysterious surge of asylum seekers
from India entering America illegally through the southwestern desert state
of Arizona bordering Mexico, according to a media report.
Hundreds, and perhaps thousands, of Indians over the past year have asked
for asylum claiming to fear they may be persecuted if returned to their
country, the Arizona Republic published in Phoenix, said in an investigative
report.
They arrive after paying as much as $35,000 to be smuggled halfway around
the globe, flying from India to Central America and then embarking on an
arduous and often dangerous 3,000-mile journey through several countries,
including Mexico, to reach Arizona, it said.
Some have been caught crossing illegally by the Border Patrol. More often,
they are simply turning themselves in at legal border crossings in Nogales,
Arizona, asking for asylum based on claims of political persecution, the US
daily said.
On a nightly basis, as many as two dozen Indians who have managed to
establish so-called "credible fear" of persecution during hearings with US
immigration asylum officers are set free at a bus station near the Phoenix
Sky Harbour International Airport, it said.
Before their release, they are given notices to appear in immigration court
at a future date, when a judge will decide whether to grant asylum.
In addition to the many hundreds who have already been released, hundreds
more remain in detention centres in Eloy and Florence waiting for credible-
fear hearings, the Republic said.
It is unclear, however, whether those asking for asylum are legitimately
fleeing persecution and whether they intend to show up for their asylum
hearings, the daily said.
In fiscal year 2012, nearly 10 percent of Indian asylum seekers failed to
show up for their final asylum hearings in US immigration courts nationwide,
the daily said, citing the Department of Justice.
Homeland Security buses staffed by immigration and customs enforcement
officers, routinely bring recently released immigrants, who are deemed low-
flight risks and not a danger to the community, to the bus station so they
can arrange travel to meet relatives in other parts of the US.
About half the migrants getting off the buses each night are Spanish
speakers from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and other Central and South
American countries, the US daily said. The other half are Indians.
The Republic cited a US State Department spokesperson Nicole Thompson as
saying she is unaware of any mass conflict in India that would be
contributing to an increase in asylum seekers from India.
But India is a complicated country with a "great degree of variance
internally as far as the standard of living and income", she was quoted as
saying.
Department of Homeland Security officials cited by the Republic said they
are investigating the surge in Indian migrants at the Arizona border.
"DHS has implemented a collaborative, coordinated response to Indian
apprehensions along the Southwest border," US Customs and Border Protection
spokesman Victor Brabble was quoted as saying in a written statement.
That includes working with the governments of other countries to "analyse
potential threats" and "identity and dismantle human smuggling networks",
Brabble said.
The Arizona Republic said DHS officials refused its repeated requests to
provide statistics for the number of Indians who have asked for asylum in
Arizona, the number of Indians who have been held in detention and the
number who have been released after establishing credible fear.
