Illegals deportation | Why India cannot hold on to her people

Images of illegal Indian immigrants — handcuffed and shackled — being deported back to the land of their birth in a US military aircraft, which became viral this week, spin a tale of karmic paradox.

One of the fastest growing economies in the world, India is unable to hold on to its people. No matter what the country offers, it is still not good enough for the proverbial native, who is perpetually seeking greener pastures, preferably in the Caucasian West, but basically anywhere that offers better opportunities — and there are plenty.

Exodus and its impact on country’s image

Consider the bare statistics. According to government figures, by November 2024, there were approximately 35.42 million (about 3.54 crore) Indians living outside the country. It makes Indians the single largest immigrant population in the world.

Now, add this on. An increasing number of Indians are giving up their citizenship. More than 18 lakh Indians have renounced their citizenship in the past 13 years, opting for the nationality of 135 countries, government data presented in the Rajya Sabha said.

Also read: Cast off by US, 33 Gujaratis will now be haunted by crushed dreams, hefty loans

While in a population of 140 crore-plus, these figures are no more than a speck, their impact on the country’s image is quite another matter.

Hall of shame

A report by the Pew Research Center, a non-partisan Washington-based think tank, said in 2022, India ranked third, after Mexico and El Salvador, on the list of countries with the largest number of unauthorized immigrants — 725,000 — living in the US.

If that is the case, the deportation of 104-odd Indians is no more than a tiny fragment of the total number of illegal Indians identified in the US.

The last few years have also witnessed a jump in the number of Indians attempting to enter the country along the US-Canada border. The US Border Patrol arrested more than 14,000 Indians on the Canadian border till September 30 last year, which amounted to 60 per cent of all arrests along that border and more than 10 times the number two years ago.

Also read: ‘Donkey route’: Deportee shares video of journey through Panama forest

Why so desperate?

Media reports say that a large majority of Indians living in the US without documents are from Punjab and Gujarat, and that Indians comprised about 3 per cent of all illegal border crossings in the US in 2024.

Herein lies the puzzle. When the political system is democratic and where the education system promotes liberalism and plurality, why are young and enterprising Indians so keen to seek better opportunities in the world outside?

Largest number of international migrants

A 2022 World Migration Report released by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, estimates that India has the largest number of international migrants in the world. It found that in 2021, 18 million Indians were living abroad, despite the many travel restrictions on account of COVID.

The report by the United Nations-affiliated body estimates that 10 million or about one crore Indians migrated abroad between 2000 and 2010.

The exodus has been relentless.

Also read: US deportation row: Why no word of regret from Jaishankar, asks Vivek Katju

Where do Indians go?

The top destinations for Indian migrants include popular choices such as the US, Canada, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, the UK, and Australia — all English-speaking countries. The non-English-speaking favourites on this list are Russia, China, Egypt, Spain, Sudan, Switzerland, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, the UAE, and Vietnam.

Surprisingly, countries that significantly lag India in terms of development and global influence, including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Fiji, Myanmar, Thailand, Namibia, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, are also good enough for those emigres.

Types of Indian emigrants

Naresh M Gehi, Founder and Principal Attorney, Gehis Immigration & International Legal Services, puts it in perspective. “There are two types of international migration from India: first, workers who are categorised as ‘unskilled’ or ‘semi-skilled’; second, skilled workers, professionals, and students.”

He explains: “With remittances earned from abroad, the families of international emigrants have prospered and could contribute to the development of their provinces and country. The knowledge gained by emigrants from India about the economic progress made in other parts of the world, and the social, cultural, political values of other societies, also help.”

In the case of the US, given the level of highly-skilled migrants and IIT-bred engineers who crowd around San Francisco and other top-end places, a parallel stream of Indians, desperate enough to try every trick in the book to get to the US in the hope that they will not be expelled, has always existed. It is only now that the numbers and expulsions are coming out in the open.

Also read: US Border Patrol chief shares video of deportees in handcuffs and shackles

Why the frenzy?

Immigration expert Gehi summed up the reasons behind this frenzy to leave the country by any means possible:

• Better quality of life: People aspire for a better quality of life. This includes an unpolluted environment, 24/7 electricity and drinking water at home.
• Social pressure: Settling abroad is considered successful. Owning a shop in the USA is more “successful” than owning the same shop in India.
• Search for suitable matches: In matrimonial advertisements, it is not uncommon to see people searching for “only those who are settled abroad”.
• Lack of research opportunities in the country: Those interested in cutting-edge research want to move to the US, Canada (which facilitates migration), or Europe. In reality, many Indian government funds discourage money to be spent on going abroad, because they believe it will be misused.
• Lack of support for entrepreneurship: Although it is picking up, India has a long way to go. Many ideas such as Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, Uber, Quora, etc., are very simple ideas, but they get venture funding with ease.
• Extreme corruption: On a monthly basis, a big scam surfaces, leading to suspicion among bright young minds, who become cynical and lose hope in the system.
• Social injustice: Some feel discriminated against because of their caste (lower or upper), or their religion, and prefer to move to developed countries, where they expect that discrimination to be less or hopefully, non-existent.

Better work-life balance

InterNations, a Munich-based global social networking site for expat communities, notes: “Indian expats are happier with their working hours and live in countries where new concepts of work play a more important role than back home in India. Indians enjoy better working hours and a better work-life balance abroad.”

The recent evictions have been from a country that prides itself on attracting global migrants and building the most developed society ever. Illegal migration was never an overly touchy subject in the US, except during the first Donald Trump presidency, and now, taken up with a renewed vigour.

Also read: Migrants starved, shackled: Why is Modi govt taking it lying down?

A world before Trump

Earlier reports have actually suggested that legalising illegal immigrants can be mutually beneficial. According to a 2007 Congressional Budget Office report entitled The Impact of Unauthorized Immigrants on the Budgets of State and Local Governments, illegal immigrants increased the size of the US economy, contributed to economic growth, enhanced the welfare of natives, contributed more in tax revenue, reduced American firms’ incentives to offshore jobs and imported foreign-produced goods, and benefitted consumers by reducing the prices of goods and services.

Some US economists have gone so far as to state that legalisation of the illegal immigrant population would increase the immigrants’ earnings and consumption considerably and increase US gross domestic product.

But that was in a world when Trump had not yet made his appearance.

National craze

S Irudaya Rajan, one of India’s leading migration experts, believes that outbound migration is a national craze that is not going to go away until Brand India makes a place for itself.

“When India’s labour classes go to the Middle East, the governments in the Gulf are very careful to brand them as temporary wage labour, on let’s say, a two-year contract, upon the expiry of which they have to leave. The US allows Indians to stay on and you can see that once an Indian reaches those shores, he is unlikely to ever come back,” said Rajan, Chairman of The International Institute of Migration and Development, Kerala.

Well, that is one equation the US government is keen to turn on its head.