Up to 200 Bhutanese caught in USA from 2013 to 2022 for being illegal migrants
In October 2024, five Bhutanese citizens were apprehended in the Swanton Sector (USA) of the US-Canada border following their illegal entry from Canada into the United States of America (USA).
The three males and two females are the only citizens of Bhutan that the US Border Patrol officials of Swanton Sector has apprehended till date this year. Swanton is the busiest sector on the US-Canada border with the maximum illegal crossings.
Public Affairs Officer of the Department of Homeland Security, Ryan Brissette, in an interview with The Bhutanese said individuals who are apprehended attempting to enter the USA illegally may be subject to criminal prosecution and are processed for removal proceedings.
In terms of the modus operandi of such illegal crossing, Ryan said Transnational Criminal Organizations profit off the wants of migrants.
“These organizations will attempt to leverage these individuals for as much money as possible while putting them in danger, and leaving them in potential deadly situations,” said Ryan.
He said that illegal border crossings can pose potential life-threatening risks. Swanton Sector’s terrain is heavily forested consisting of mountains as well as rivers, streams, lakes, and swamps. During the winter, temperatures can get as low as -30 degree Fahrenheit (-34.44 degree Celsius), and frostbite or death can occur quickly.
On the reason for increased crossings in the Canada-US border in recent years, Ryan said, “Trying to attach a singular reason for the rise in traffic would be speculative. In many cases, there is a false perception that it is ‘safer’ than crossing at the Southern Border.”
Ryan said that for Bhutanese migrants wanting to come to the USA, the safest path for entry into the United States is through legal means, entering through legal ports of entries with proper documentation.
A 20th December 2024 internal letter of the Department of Bilateral Affairs addressed to the Chief of Royal Bhutan Police, Director General of Department of Law and Order, Director General of Royal Civil Service Commission, Director of Bhutan Qualifications and Professionals Certification Authority and Director of Department of Immigration had the subject matter of ‘Strategy Note to prevent illegal crossing of border from Canada to the USA by Bhutanese nationals living in Canada.’
The letter said the ministry received a concerning report from Bhutan’s Consulate General in New York regarding the illegal crossing of the border from Canada to the USA by Bhutanese nationals who are mainly students residing in Canada.
As per the reports, more than 300 Bhutanese have illegally crossed the border from Canada into the USA.
The letter said that as directed by the Prime Minister, the ministry would like to request for a stakeholder consultation on 25th December 2024.
In late December, this reporter approached the Ministry for Foreign Affairs to cover the story and to ask for an update on the action the government is taking to address the issue.
When asked about the 300 Bhutanese crossing figure in the letter, the ministry said it is not a concrete figure from any official source, but a hearsay internal number from informal background sources.
The ministry said it would give proper updates in due time, which was not made available even after four weeks of waiting and correspondence.
In the meantime, an official said the stakeholder meeting was to see what can be done as such activities are not flattering for Bhutan’s image. The official said they wanted to get real information from the various sectors. Giving an example, the official said the BQPCA was contacted as they manage and look after Education Consultancies and so they wanted to find out how these consultancies are being regulated.
The official said that the discussions are in a preliminary stage, and that in the post pandemic era, lot of students have gone abroad to study using consultancies, and it is difficult to know and check which student is genuine, and which ones may cross the border, as long as they fulfill all the requirements.
Three weeks after this, the ministry still could not provide more information on at least its plan of action on the issue.
Meanwhile, the above five Bhutanese are not the only Bhutanese caught in America for being there illegally in the last few years.
Data from the US Department of Homeland Security shows that 200 Bhutanese have been caught for residing illegally in the USA between 2013 and 2022 a period of 10 years under the category of ‘Expulsions and Noncitizens Apprehensions by Region and Country of Nationality.’
7 illegal immigrants from Bhutan were caught in 2013, 12 in 2014, 24 in 2015, 22 in 2016, 30 in 2017, 26 in 2018, 33 in 2019, 14 in 2020, 15 in 2021 and 17 in 2022.
Apart from this, from 2013 to 2022 a total of 61 Bhutanese were found to not be inadmissible to the USA under the criteria of ‘Noncitizen inadmissibility determinations by region and country of nationality.’
Under the US Immigration and Nationality Act, the general categories of inadmissibility include health, criminal activity, national security, public charge (likely to be dependent on government assistance), lack of labor certification (if required), fraud and misrepresentation, prior removals, unlawful presence in the United States, and several miscellaneous categories.
Data from the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which is a federal law enforcement agency under the US Department of Homeland Security, shows that in the last four years of 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 they have arrested and detained 51 Bhutanese on immigration violations.
US Border Patrol Data from 2007 to 2019 shows 9 Bhutanese being caught at both the Northern Border of Canada and the Southern Border of Mexico while trying to cross over into the USA.
In 2007, one Bhutanese was caught at the Northern Border. In 2008, three Bhutanese we caught at the Southern border. In 2009, one was caught at the Northern Border. In 2011, one Bhutanese was caught at the Northern Border and one at the Southern Border. In 2015, one Bhutanese was caught at the Southern Border. In 2018, one was caught at the Northern Border.
While the focus these days is on the big Bhutanese migration to Australia, the first major wave of migration was actually to the USA, and while there were legal migrants, there were also many who did not get there legally but on various pretenses especially as tourists or cultural troupes and then stayed back.
In the WikiLeaks cables on Bhutan three cables from the US Embassies to the USA talk about this issue. A 2010 cable says that a group of so called Bhutanese cultural performers was the front for human smuggling to the US.
The group initially told the US Embassy that their purpose of travel was to perform as members of a Buddhist folk music and dance troupe at several US venues. When interviewed by the Fraud Prevention Unit some members group members admitted that they were actually intending to travel to the US to work illegally and would have to pay USD 3,000 and 4,000 after getting the visa and reaching USA.
In 2008 a group of 9 Bhutanese seeking US Visa was caught when group members admitted to paying USD 10,000 to their fixer to allow them to work and/or immigrate to the US.
The US Embassy in Delhi said that in 2007, 22 visa recipients had overstayed and 33 had not given the correct contact information. This, the embassy assumed was because they had intended to overstay. It was also found that 14 applied to become permanent residents while another 20 applied to prolong their visas.
In 2008, 25 US visa recipients were confirmed to have overstayed.
The cable says that the relatively large number of Bhutanese travelers who remain in the US gives cause for greater scrutiny of their visa applications. It says that the Delhi embassy will take greater care to verify contact information before issuing visas to these applicants.
Some may wonder why the 200 Bhutanese citizens caught staying illegally in the USA over the past 10 years have not been deported back to Bhutan. The reason lies in the complexity of deportation procedures in the USA, which require active cooperation from the immigrant’s home country. The source country must agree to accept the individual and also issue the necessary travel documents for the deportation to take place.
What has helped Bhutanese illegal immigrants in the USA is the relatively smaller numbers, as the priority is more on sending back the illegal immigrants from the Latin American countries. Both China and India have large numbers of illegal migrants caught in the USA, but neither country accepts to take them back.
Bhutan joins a list of countries like China, India, Mexico, Laos, Brazil, Nicaragua, Honduras, Congo, Ethiopia, Eretria, Yemen, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Russia, Ukraine, Cambodia and Cuba that have said no to taking back thier immigrant citizens.
However, things may change with the upcoming Trump administration, as Trump has threatened to not do business with countries that do not take back illegal immigrants and impose tariffs on their products. He has even threatened to use the military to round up illegal migrants.
Faced with record illegal migration numbers from its southern and northern borders, President Trump has threatened 25% tariff on Mexico and Canada if they cannot get the numbers under control.
The two main issues of the recent US Presidential elections were the economy and immigration.