US sees dramatic 855% surge in Indian asylum seekers over two years
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Indian asylum seekers being body searched at the US-Mexico border in Yuma in Arizona. | Go Nakamura/Reuters
The number of Indians seeking asylum in the United States surged by nearly 855% between 2021 and 2023, according to data from the US Department of Homeland Security.
Nearly half of these applications reportedly came from Gujarat, as The Times of India reported on Monday, citing unnamed officials from Indian agencies. In 2021, 4,330 Indians applied for asylum in the US. By 2023, that number had climbed to 41,330, encompassing affirmative and defensive asylum cases.
Affirmative asylum cases are initiated by individuals on their own, while defensive cases involve those who were either living in the United States without proper documentation or were apprehended while attempting to enter the country illegally.
In 2023, Indian nationals filed 13,030 affirmative asylum cases and 28,300 defensive cases. Last year, Indians ranked as the fifth-largest group seeking defensive asylum, following Venezuela, Cuba, Colombia, and Nicaragua.
700 Indians, across both affirmative and defensive cases, were granted asylum in 2021, which rose to 2,710 in 2023. Indians also represented the fifth-largest nationality granted asylum last year, following applicants from Afghanistan, China, Venezuela, and El Salvador.
According to data from the US Customs and Border Protection agency, Indians accounted for 90,415 out of approximately 2.9 million undocumented immigrants apprehended while attempting to enter the United States between October 2022 and September 2023.
The total number of asylum applications in the United States rose significantly, from 63,340 in 2021 to 456,750 in 2023, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Of these, 16,550 applicants were granted asylum in 2021, compared to 54,350 in 2023.