Immigrants from India are becoming increasingly common at the U.S.-Mexico border. They are now the fifth-largest group after immigrants from Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala and El Salvador.
While Indians still lag far behind Latin Americans, the number is rising. In fiscal year 2017, 2,227 Indians were apprehended trying to cross the U.S.-Mexico border. In the first seven months of FY 2018, there were 4,197 apprehensions, according to Syracuse University's TRAC.
"Their number shot up," said Randy Capps, director of research for U.S. programs at the Migration Policy Institute.
Many of the immigrants are Sikhs who are fleeing "political persecution" with a religious component, say lawyers who represent them in U.S. asylum cases.
Sikh asylum-seekers held at the Sheridan Federal Correctional Institution in Oregon have cited political persecution by the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
While Indians still lag far behind Latin Americans, the number is rising. In fiscal year 2017, 2,227 Indians were apprehended trying to cross the U.S.-Mexico border. In the first seven months of FY 2018, there were 4,197 apprehensions, according to Syracuse University's TRAC.
"Their number shot up," said Randy Capps, director of research for U.S. programs at the Migration Policy Institute.
Many of the immigrants are Sikhs who are fleeing "political persecution" with a religious component, say lawyers who represent them in U.S. asylum cases.
Sikh asylum-seekers held at the Sheridan Federal Correctional Institution in Oregon have cited political persecution by the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
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