On migrant trail, the ‘donkey route’ that Indians use to illegally enter US

In November 2021, Tarachand, a farmer in Ambala district in Haryana, got his daughter married to a man from his village with the understanding that his son-in-law will move to the US, work for a few years, and return home with enough money to start a business in India. “When the agent sent me a video of my son-in-law crossing over to the US side of the border, I was happier than the day my daughter got married,” said Tarachand. Tarachand’s son-in-law is among hundreds of Indians, largely from Delhi-NCR, Haryana, Punjab and Gujarat, who have illegally entered the US using the so-called “donkey route” — a term used by traffickers to illegally push migrants into western countries. The police investigations found that Bhandari would send four to six Indians to the US via the “donkey route” every month. Kumar added, “Once the passenger is in the US, he is helped by a local American contact, who is often connected to a local business owner who wants cheap labour, doesn’t complain about the work hours.” For the families back home, the agents would send video proof of the passengers scaling a wall, jumping across a fence, or rappelling through a tunnel to illegally enter the US.