PLATTSBURGH, N.Y. — A group of immigrants from India pile out of a taxi minivan beside the Clinton County, New York, government building in this small upstate city half an hour from the Canadian border.
They are quickly swarmed by a half a dozen fellow Indian immigrants who’ve waited hours for this business opportunity.
This fleet of jitney taxis offering migrants rides south to New York City is one clear example of the informal economy that’s sprung up following a significant increase in unauthorized crossings across the usually sleepy northern border over the last year and a half.
“I rent a car, I come here,” Says Shivam, a 20-year-old driver from India who goes by only a surname. “So people coming, I’m just helping them.”
But make no mistake, this is business, and business is booming.
So far this year, U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents have had nearly 20,000 encounters with migrants between ports of entry on the northern border.
That’s a 95% increase from last year.
It’s not entirely clear what’s driving this increase, but nearly 60% of those encounters were with Indian nationals.
Shivam and other drivers charge anywhere from $150 to up to $300 per person for the six-hour drive to the Big Apple. There migrants will search for work or head to other cities across America.
What’s driving the increase?
Shivam himself crossed into the U.S. illegally a few weeks ago, through the thick woods connecting Canada to upstate New York.
He says it was challenging.
“I had to walk through the forest and at night it’s dark and there’s lots of trees and bushes and the forest is full of mud because of the rain,” Shivam says.
He’s now awaiting a hearing in front of an immigration judge after claiming asylum in the U.S. But he admits, he came here mostly for work, and because “I get more opportunities in the U.S. compared to Canada.”
Pablo Bose, director of the Global and Regional Studies Program at the University of Vermont, says the reasons for why most Indian immigrants come to the U.S. varies, and are different to those of Central and South Americans.
Migrants from those countries often are fleeing violence, government oppression, and organized crime. That’s the reason the U.S. southern border saw an increase in unauthorized crossings through 2023.
In December, CBP officials reported nearly 371,000 encounters with unauthorized migrants, a record high.
But those numbers have gone down since the beginning of the year, in part due to Mexico’s increased enforcement, and the Biden administration’s measures limiting eligibility for asylum.
At the northern U.S. border, the number of unauthorized crossings pale in comparison.
Still, the increase has put some communities on edge.
Most of the migrants crossing through Canada are Indian nationals. In June, unauthorized crossings of Indians here hit an all-time high, with about 3,600 attempting to cross between ports of entry.
“For some of the Indian families (the motivation) has definitely been economic opportunity, reunification with family,” Bose says.
He says part of the reason so many Indians come to the U.S. through Canada first is because of the northern neighbor’s favorable immigration policies. For instance, until recently, migrants in Canada who were on a visitor's visa could apply for a temporary work permit there.
Canada also has an express entry policy for skilled migrants who want to live there.
So why are they crossing into the U.S.?
Bose says there are simply more jobs in more industries.
“We have a significant swathe of Indians who end up broadly speaking in the services and hospitality industries, especially in larger cities like New York and Chicago where there’s an ability to disappear into the immigrant workforce,” Bose says.
He added migrants believe the U.S. has more to offer than Canada, like lower taxes and higher wages.
“It’s not lost on most migrants that the U.S. dollar is 25% stronger than the Canadian,” Bose says.
People from all over the world use the northern border
Crossing the northern border is not free of dangers or easy.
Migrants can face freezing winter temperatures. They can also be denied asylum quicker, on the spot, as part of an agreement between the U.S. and Canada.
Still, many perceive this route safer than traveling to the U.S. through the dangerous parts of Central America, or the Mexican desert.
Deivy Morales, a 25-year-old Venezuelan, knows this too well. After his asylum case languished for two years in Canada, a frustrated Morales decided to cross into New York State.
“I came during the day and I saw mosquitoes that looked like helicopters,” Morales jokes.
He walked for about three hours in the woods until he was arrested by U.S. Border Patrol.
This was a familiar scene for him. A few years ago Morales crossed illegally into the U.S. from Mexico. But he’s back on American soil after his family moved to Chicago from Venezuela.
“I haven’t seen my family in almost three years,” Morales says. “I have to see them.”
As he figures out how to get there, an Indian taxi driver offers him a ride south.
Morales says he only has $150 Canadian dollars. The Indian driver tells him that’s “no good.”
“This is the U.S., not Canada,” the driver tells him. Eventually he tells Morales he will drive him.
Morales is then rushed to get into an SUV with a group of Haitian immigrants.
The driver — a different Indian driver — tells him it’s about a six-hour car ride down on I-87 to New York City.
Other drivers stay put at the bus stop — they know a new wave of migrants is sure to show up soon.
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