Nearly 42,000 migrants from India crossed into the United States illegally through the country’s southern land border with Mexico between October 2022 and September this year, data compiled by the Customs and Border Protection agency shows.

While Mexicans remain the largest groups illegally entering the United States, the number of Indians doing so has risen significantly in recent years.

The data showed that 41,770 Indian citizens illegally entered the United States from the southern border, more than double the number who did so during the same period in the previous year.

Of these, over 33,800 were single adults and nearly 7,250 were categorised as individuals in a family. Nearly 700 were unaccompanied children or minors.

Between October 2022 and September this year, nearly 2,000 to 4,000 Indians entered the United States illegally every month. The figure rose to over 8,000 in April.

In September, over 3,000 Indians were arrested for illegally entering the United States from the Canadian border, the data showed.

Nearly all Indians illegally entering the United States turn themselves in to Border Patrol to avoid getting arrested. This is so that they can apply for asylum in the United States, according to The Wall Street Journal.

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