H1B visa norms tightened, Indian techies explore illegal routes to enter US
New Delhi, Oct 18 (IANS) With the US tightening H1B
visa norms amid a significant peak drop in the number of US visas being issued,
there is a possibility that some Indian software engineers may also be trying
their luck to enter the land of opportunity via illegal routes in Mexico and
Hungary, IANS has learnt.
On Friday, Mexican immigration authorities deported 311 Indians -- 310 men and
one woman - who reached New Delhi on Friday evening, which is the largest ever
deportation in the Mexican history of the trans-Atlantic deportation by air.
This may have led Indian techies to take dangerous routes usually taken by
undocumented immigrants to reach the
The most popular route to enter the
The other popular spot for Indians to enter the
An email sent to the IT industry's apex body Nasscom on the development went
unanswered.
The Ministry of External Affairs was yet to issue a statement.
A government source, however, said
According to Pew Research, at the US-Mexico border, there have been more
apprehensions of non-Mexicans than Mexicans every year since fiscal 2016.
"Non-Mexicans accounted for 62 per cent of apprehensions at the southwest
border in fiscal 2018, marking the third consecutive year in which they
outnumbered Mexicans," said the report.
Earlier, 311 Indians reached
"The @INAMI mx informs of the arrival in New Delhi, India, of 311 people
from that country, who had irregular status in # Mexico, the return was carried
out in agreement with the Embassy of India, complying with immigration rules
and procedures in force," tweeted the National Institute of Migration of
Mexico.
"Mexico and @INAMI_mx showing their commitment to secure borders and
orderly, legal migration through the unprecedented repatriation of 311 Indian
nationals to India on Wednesday night. Commissioner Garduno (@fgymexico) is
sending a strong message to human smugglers," Mark Morgan, the acting
Commissioner of US Customs and Border Protection, said in a tweet.
Majority of the deported Indians, in the 18-35 age group, were from
All of them were caught over a period of several months in the Mexican states
of
The Mexican authorities allege that these Indians had illegally reached the
country over the last few months to enter the
This is the first such action taken by
The move comes after