The terrifying risks Indians are taking to reach the US illegally

Published

8 months ago

September 3, 2024

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Indian families have reportedly frozen to death, drowned and been kidnapped by their smugglers as they tried to reach the US – and the number of those willing to risk their lives in their desperate quest is growing.

Indians are now the third largest group of illegal migrants to America.

According to a 2022 report by Pew Research Centre, there are 725,000 unauthorised Indian immigrants in the US, making them the third largest group after those from Mexico and El Salvador.

Last year, the US Border Protection Agency, part of the Department of Homeland Security, apprehended 96,917 Indians – a number that has tripled in just two years. And these are just the ones who got caught.

They go to any lengths, putting their lives in the hands of criminal gangs, to reach the shores of America. Some were kidnapped, others killed by the criminal gangs that had promised to smuggle them into the US.

A couple and their two children froze to death just a few metres from the US-Canada border in 2022, according to Sky News’ US affiliate NBC and other reports. Another family drowned trying to enter the United States from Canada by boat across the St Lawrence River, local media said.

Lucrative racket

The racket is estimated to be worth a billion dollars, with each hopeful paying anything from $50,000 (£38,000) to $100,000 (£76,000) for the chance to reach that dream destination.

The trade is so lucrative and demand insatiable that there are now thousands of traffickers involved, mostly in the northern Indian states of Punjab and Haryana.

Last December a chartered plane to Nicaragua made a technical stop at Valery Airport in France. Authorities detained all 303 Indian passengers onboard, suspecting they were being trafficked.

Joginder (not his real name), a trafficker, told Sky News: “I send about 500 every season, and there are three seasons in a year.

“Ask anyone who has a big house and they will say their child is abroad. It’s a fashion, a competition. Families sell their land, jewellery and even their homes to send.”

Joginder said that [not all] “reach their destination as 10 to 12% die on the way or are killed for not paying”.

He said: “The mafia control the borders. On the route many wrong incidents take place, and terrible things happen to women, I can’t say it here. But they have to bear it to reach America.

“We also feel the pain. For the family who loses someone, the pain is much more. But both feel pain. But it’s business, they want to go and I send them.”

‘Dunki flights’

‘Dunki flights’, a Punjabi phrase for ‘hopping routes’, is the most widespread means used.

Smugglers send migrants to countries with lax visa rules or easy access like Panama, Costa Rica, El Salvador, or Guatemala. From here they begin their long trek led by coyotes and controlled by criminal gangs.

The routes and their difficulties depend on the amount of money paid. Payments are made at predetermined stages during the journey, with the final amount handed over at the US border.

Indian authorities have recently started a crackdown on smuggler networks. But the pace and scale are overwhelming.

Ms Upasana, superintendent of police, in Kaithal, Haryana, tells Sky News: “It’s now a culture where people feel a sense of pride that their child is abroad.

“This year we have registered 46 criminal cases and arrested 75 people involved.

“Those abroad upload photos of themselves with big bungalows and cars and the youth get attracted and want the same.

“Children tell their parents, ‘Either I die or you send me’.”

‘I had lost all hope of living’

One of those who tried, 36-year-old Subhash Kumar, says he’s lucky to be alive and wishes to erase the few weeks of his attempt at a ‘dunki flight’.

He spent his savings and borrowed money to pay a gang $50,000. He was flown to Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, where he was kidnapped, threatened and held for ransom on the outskirts of the city.

The gang used forged boarding passes and visas and filmed with false backgrounds to fake his arrival at the US border. The family paid the final amount to the traffickers.

“They would put a knife to my throat and threaten me to confirm things. I had lost all hope of living,” Mr Kumar said.

“I just wanted to speak to my wife and children for the last time. I was a dead man there. I had no hope.

“They even played airport announcements in the background while we spoke to our family, to show we had reached foreign cities.”

He was eventually rescued, along with 10 other Indians, when police, acting on a tip-off, raided the building and arrested the kidnappers.

But many are not as lucky.

‘Killed for money’

Malkeet Singh, a 30-year-old technology graduate, dreamed of going to America.

The family sold property and took loans to pay traffickers. He travelled to Doha, Almaty, Istanbul, Panama City and reached El Salvador.

He told his younger brother Rajiv they would begin trekking to Guatemala the next day.

On 7 March all contact was lost. Three weeks later the family identified his body from a video posted on social media.

Rajiv said: “My brother was killed for money, the mafia gangs involved were robbing them and fired on the people and shot him.

“Whenever I spoke to my brother, he said that these traffickers would often steal and extort from people.”

The family lodged a case against the trafficker, who was caught and jailed – and eventually returned the money.

Blood money – recompense given to the relatives of someone who has been killed – was paid and the family withdrew the case.

For 45-year-old Shiv Kumar, it’s been a never-ending search for his 19-year-old son Sahil.

A life’s savings were spent in paying smugglers but Sahil’s last message – about starting the second leg of his journey – was from Libya almost a year ago.

Mr Kumar regularly scans the news about migrant journeys. He filed a case against the trafficker who was caught and imprisoned – but is now out on bail. He’s reached out to all agencies, state and central government – the family is desperate for closure.

“Only a family knows what it’s going through when their son is lost.

“Every human being should have the satisfaction of knowing what happened to their child. Until today we don’t know if he’s dead or alive.”

Inequality driving the trend

Even as India registers one of the fastest economic growths and is the fifth-largest economy in the world, there is a massive imbalance and inequality.

High unemployment, stagnant incomes and distress in the rural economy coupled with an American dream have led many to take these treacherous journeys.

Superintendent Upasana said: “It’s dangerous for India that its working population, its youth, our main productive young are going outside. They do not get any good job there. Recently we find them involved in making extortion calls to businessmen here in India.”

In the Mexican town of Tapachula – a hub for travelling migrants – large numbers are from India, curry houses dotting the town. A Sky News team witnessed new arrivals, as all waited for the right time to make the journey.

But with the possibility of a Trump presidency, there is an urgency to cross.

Joginder said: “The last time under Trump the rules were made very strict. That’s why there is fear among many”.

The legal route to emigrate is crowded, difficult and slow. Those determined to make the journey are willing to pay any price.

“If I don’t do it then someone else will. This has always been happening and will go on forever.”

US

Virginia Giuffre, who accused Prince Andrew of sexual assault, has died, her family says

Published

13 hours ago

April 26, 2025

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Virginia Giuffre, who accused Prince Andrew of sexual assault, has died, her family says

Virginia Giuffre, who accused Prince Andrew of sexual assault, has died aged 41.

In a statement to Sky’s US partner network NBC News on Friday, her family said she took her own life in the Perth suburb of Neergabby, Australia, where she had been living for several years.

“It is with utterly broken hearts that we announce that Virginia passed away last night at her farm in Western Australia,” her family said.

“She lost her life to suicide, after being a lifelong victim of sexual abuse and sex trafficking.

“Virginia was a fierce warrior in the fight against sexual abuse and sex trafficking. She was the light that lifted so many survivors.

“In the end, the toll of abuse is so heavy that it became unbearable for Virginia to handle its weight.”

Police said emergency services received reports of an unresponsive woman at a property in Neergabby on Friday night.

“Police and St John Western Australia attended and provided emergency first aid. Sadly, the 41-year-old woman was declared deceased at the scene,” a police spokeswoman said.

“The death is being investigated by Major Crime detectives; early indication is the death is not suspicious.”

Sexual assault claims

Ms Giuffre sued the Duke of York for sexual abuse in August 2021, saying Andrew had sex with her when she was 17 and had been trafficked by his friend, the billionaire paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.

The duke has repeatedly denied the claims, and he has not been charged with any criminal offences.

In March 2022, it was announced Ms Giuffre and Andrew had reached an out-of-court settlement – believed to include a “substantial donation to Ms Giuffre’s charity in support of victims’ rights”.

She stuck by her version of events until the end

Of the many dozens of victims of Jeffrey Epstein, it was Virginia Giuffre who became the most high-profile.

She was among the loudest and most compelling voices, urging criminal charges to be brought against Epstein, waving her right to anonymity in 2015.

She told how he and Ghislaine Maxwell groomed her and “passed around like a platter of fruit” to be used by rich and powerful men.

But her name and face became known around the world after she accused Prince Andrew of sexually abusing her when she was 17 years old.

The picture of her together with the prince and Maxwell at the top of a staircase, his hand around her waist, is the defining image of the whole scandal.

Prince Andrew said he had no memory of the occasion. But Giuffre stuck by her version of events until the end.

‘An incredible champion’

Sigrid McCawley, Ms Giuffre’s attorney, said in a statement that she “was much more than a client to me; she was a dear friend and an incredible champion for other victims”.

“Her courage pushed me to fight harder, and her strength was awe-inspiring,” she said. “The world has lost an amazing human being today.”

“Rest in peace, my sweet angel,” she added.

Dini von Mueffling, Ms Giuffre’s representative, also said that “Virginia was one of the most extraordinary human beings I have ever had the honour to know”.

“Deeply loving, wise, and funny, she was a beacon to other survivors and victims,” she added. “She adored her children and many animals.

“She was always more concerned with me than with herself. I will miss her beyond words.

“It was the privilege of a lifetime to represent her.”

Ms Giuffre said at the end of March she had four days to live after a car accident, posting on social media that “I’ve gone into kidney renal failure”. She was discharged from hospital eight days later.

Raised mainly in Florida, she said she was abused by a family friend early in life, which led to her living on the streets at times as a teenager.

She said that in 2000, she met Ghislaine Maxwell, a British socialite who was convicted in 2021 on federal sex trafficking and conspiracy charges and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Ms Giuffre said Maxwell then introduced her to Epstein and hired her as his masseuse, and said she was sex trafficked and sexually abused by him and associates around the world.

‘A survivor’

After meeting her husband in 2002, while taking massage training in Thailand at what she said was Epstein’s behest, she moved to Australia and had a family.

She founded the sex trafficking victims’ advocacy charity SOAR in 2015, and is quoted on its website as saying: “I do this for victims everywhere.

“I am no longer the young and vulnerable girl who could be bullied. I am now a survivor, and nobody can ever take that away from me.”

:: Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.

US

Trump met with Zelenskyy ahead of Pope’s funeral

Published

14 hours ago

April 26, 2025

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Trump met with Zelenskyy ahead of Pope's funeral

Donald Trump has met Volodymyr Zelenskyy ahead of the Pope’s funeral, Vatican sources have told Sky News.

The US and Ukrainian presidents had a “very productive discussion”, according to a White House Official, and have also agreed to hold further talks after the service.

They are among world leaders, including Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron, who are attending the funeral of Pope Francis.

Follow live updates: Zelenskyy among world leaders joining thousands of mourners

There was applause from some of those gathered in St Peter’s Square when the Ukrainian leader walked out.

The former British ambassador to Russia Sir Tony Brenton said the event presents diplomatic opportunities, including the “biggest possible meeting” between Mr Trump and Mr Zelenskyy.

He told Sky News it could mark “an important step” in starting the peace process between Russia and Ukraine, and is their first face-to-face meeting after a very public row between the presidents at the White House in February.

The bilateral meeting comes after Mr Trump’s peace negotiator Steve Witkoff held talks with Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin.

They discussed “the possibility of resuming direct negotiations between Russia and Ukraine”, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said.

Russia and Ukraine have not held direct talks since the early weeks of the war, which began in February 2022.

Mr Trump has claimed a deal to end the war is “very close” and has urged Mr Zelenskyy to “get it done” in a post on his Truth Social platform.

He has previously warned both sides his administration would walk away from its efforts to achieve a peace if the two sides do not agree a deal soon.

Meanwhile, the Polish Armed Forces said a Russian military helicopter violated its airspace over the Baltic Sea on Friday evening, in a post on X.

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US

Donald Trump says Russia and Ukraine are ‘very close to a deal’ – and says ‘two sides should now meet’

Published

1 day ago

April 25, 2025

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Donald Trump says Russia and Ukraine are 'very close to a deal' - and says 'two sides should now meet'

Donald Trump has said Russia and Ukraine are “very close to a deal” with “most of the major points agreed” – as he called for the two sides to meet.

Shortly after arriving in Rome for Pope Francis’s funeral, the US president said high-level officials should now meet to “finish [the deal] off”.

“A good day in talks and meetings with Russia and Ukraine,” Mr Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

“They are very close to a deal, and the two sides should now meet, at very high levels, to ‘finish it off’.

“Most of the major points are agreed to. Stop the bloodshed, NOW. We will be wherever is necessary to help facilitate the END to this cruel and senseless war!”

Throughout the week, the US president has criticised both Ukraine and Russia for failing to agree to a peace deal.

On Wednesday, he accused Mr Zelenskyy of harming talks on Truth Social, saying “the man with ‘no cards to play’ should now, finally, GET IT DONE”.

A day later, after nine people were killed in Kyiv after a Russian missile and drone strike, Mr Trump said: “Vladimir, STOP! 5000 soldiers a week are dying. Let’s get the Peace Deal DONE!”

The president and other officials have also threatened to withdraw from negotiations if no progress is made toward a deal.

It comes after Mr Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff met Vladimir Putin in Moscow to discuss a US-brokered peace plan for Ukraine.

The talks allowed Russia and the United States to “further bring their positions closer together” on “a number of international issues”, a Kremlin aide said.

Speaking earlier on the flight to Italy, Mr Trump said he hadn’t been fully briefed on Mr Witkoff and Mr Putin’s meeting – but added it was a “pretty good meeting”.

Russia and Ukraine have not held direct talks since the early weeks of the war, which began in February 2022.

Ukraine has repeatedly said it would not accept a deal conceding land or handing over sovereignty to Russia.

However, Mr Trump said in an interview with TIME magazine that “Crimea will stay with Russia,” describing the region as a place where Moscow has “had their submarines” and “the people speak largely Russian”.

“Zelenskyy understands that, and everybody understands that it’s been with them for a long time,” he added. “It’s been with them long before Trump came along.”

When asked on Friday about Mr Trump’s comments, Mr Zelenskyy did not want to comment but repeated that recognising occupied Ukrainian territory as Russian is a red line.