Families Lacking Valid Visas Are ‘Strategically’ Leaving Minors At Border Crossings, Alone And Only With a Chit, Hoping They Can Become Their Ticket To The American Dream.
They are to be found at the US border with Mexico or Canada. Mostly between 12 and 17 years old, but sometimes even as young as six. Left alone, afraid, in unfamiliar surroundings, carrying nothing but a chit of paper, on which is scribbled names and contact details of their parents.
In a disturbing trend visible over the past few years, Indian children are increasingly being found all by themselves at the US borders, trying to enter the country sans documents or the company of guardians. Data from the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) shows that from October 2024 to Feb this year, 77 unaccompanied Indian minors were apprehended at the US borders, pointing to a pattern in which minors become both victims and tools in the complex world of illegal immigration.
These children, mostly teenaged were found “strategically abandoned” along the US-Mexico border, through a significant number also crossed from Canada, where harsh weather conditions make it riskier.
Data show that 53 of t he 77 kids were apprehended at the southern land border with Mexico, and 22 were caught crossing over from Canada. Some were intercepted within the county. These children highlight the persistence of undocumented immigration and the increasing use of minors as part of broader immigration strategies.
CHILD-FIRST IMMIGRATION PATTERN:
According to USCBP records, between 2022 and 2025, a total of 1,656 unaccompanied Indian minors were apprehended while attempting to enter the US. The highest number of children — 730 — were found in FY 2023 and 517 in 2024. In 2022, the number was 409.
The Covid pandemic saw comparatively lower numbers with 219, minors found in 2020 and 237 in 2021, possibly due to travel restrictions and a global slowdown in migratory movement. However, the numbers sharply rose after the pandemic, indicating renewed activity on illegal migration routes.
According to immigration experts, these figures reflect a deliberate pattern by families trying to secure residence in the US by sending their children first.
THE STRATEGY:
These kids act as ‘green cards for their parents, who are also illegal immigrants, a person associated with an illegal immigration network explained. “In most cases, their parents first reach the US illegally and then they send for their children with other illegal immigrants to the US.” “When their children are caught by the borders, they seek refuge for the minors and themselves — which they usually get on humanitarian grounds.”
In some instances, the strategy is reversed: parents send their children first; using their presence as a reason to apply for asylum themselves later. “They claim asylum on the grounds that their children are already in the US.”
Another insider involved in human trafficking said children are often sent along with groups of adults, but abandoned near border checkpoints to be picked up by the authorities. “These children carry chits in their pockets or bags, which bear the names of their parents/or guardians. They are then sent to their parents, who may be already living illegally in the US, and given health and education benefits free of cost.”
FIRST-HAND ACCOUNTS:
Several Gujarati families have admitted to following this route. One such case is of a couple from Kadi in Mehsana, where the father, a lawyer shared how he and his wife had moved to Atlanta illegally in 2019, leaving their two-year old son in India.
“All sources of transport were disrupted because of the pandemic.”
THE ROAD AHEAD:
A US-based source said abandoned children are not officially declared as such in many cases, but that they stood a strong likelihood of security green cards within six to eight months after juvenile court rulings. “In such cases, once kids get green cards, their relatives proceed with adoption applications.”
However, some see the current trend slowing down because of changes in US policy. Experts say the Trump’s administration’s tough stance on immigration is expected to reduce the number of unaccompanied minors at the borders.
In the meantime, children continue to arrive — some from the dusty lanes of rural Gujarat, others guided through vast international routes — ending up alone at a foreign border; often with just a slip of paper as their lifeline.
