Page 2 - Immigrants

India received $111 bn in remittances in 2022, highest by any country: UN

India received over USD 111 billion in remittances in 2022, the largest in the world, becoming the first country to reach and even surpass the USD 100 billion mark, the United Nations migration agency has said. The International Organisation for Migration (IOM), in its World Migration Report 2024 launched Tuesday, said that in 2022, India, Mexico, China, the Philippines and France were the top five remittance recipient countries. "India was well above the rest, receiving more than USD 111 billion, the first country to reach and even surpass the USD 100 billion mark. Mexico was the second-largest remittance recipient in 2022, a position it also held in 2021 after overtaking China, which historically had been the second-biggest recipient after India, the report said. According to the report's data, India was the top country receiving remittances in 2010 (USD 53.48 billion), 2015 (USS 68.91 billion), and 2020 (USD 83.15 billion), with the remittances crossing the USD 100 billion mark t

Eminent Indian Americans commit $100 million for development of Amritsar

A group of eminent Indian-Americans have come together to announce a commitment of USD100 million for startups towards the socio-economic development of Amritsar, the first of its kind initiative for any Indian city by the diaspora. In collaboration with the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FICCI) and the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF), a group of eminent Indian-Americans and Indians living in the US had their first meeting in a Maryland suburb of Washington DC to announce the formation of Viksit Amritsar Initiative. The mega initiative, its founding members said, is inspired by former Indian envoy to the US, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, who after an illustrious diplomatic service, including the last four years in Washington DC, has returned to his home town with the mission of helping the city develop as one of the best in the world both in terms of economic and industrial growth but also as an attractive tourist destination from across the ...

Despite being country of immigrants, US immigration system broken: Thanedar

Indian-American Congressman Shri Thanedar said Tuesday that the US has a broken immigration system and should be replaced by an orderly process that benefits the US, its economy and helps create American jobs. America is a nation of immigrants and yet we have a broken immigration system, Thanedar said during a Congressional hearing of the House Homeland Security Committee on the Fiscal Year 2025 Department of Homeland Security Budget Request. In 1979, growing up in poverty, I was fortunate to have gotten admission into a PhD program in the United States to study. And that would have changed my life. And I went to the American embassy in Mumbai. Got there at 5 am in the morning, stood in line, only to be denied my student visa, he said. The embassy continued to deny it four more times. The fifth time, the visa got approved, only because the denying officer was on vacation to the United States. You know, our H-1B visas are an issue. Our immigration -- country quotas are creating such

Explained: Canada hikes permanent residency fees by 12 per cent

Canada granted a record 437,000 foreigners permanent residency in 2022. It seeks to bring in 1.45 million new permanent residents by 2025-end

US firm helping immigrants in detention to pay over $811 mn in lawsuit

A company that provides services for immigrants in federal detention was ordered Tuesday to pay more than $811 million in restitution and penalties in a lawsuit alleging it used deceptive and abusive tactics. Nexus Services must pay roughly $231 million in restitution as well as penalties of $13.8 million to New York, $7.1 million to Virginia and $3.4 million to Massachusetts, according to a judgement filed in federal court for the Western District of Virginia in Harrisonburg. The Virginia-based company, its subsidiary Libre by Nexus and its three executives must also each pay more than $111 million in civil penalties. This judgment is a victory for thousands of immigrant families who lost their life savings and were targeted and preyed on by Libre, New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement. Libre exploited vulnerable immigrants and their families to pad its pockets, and that is illegal and unconscionable. James joined state attorneys general in Virginia and ...

Immigrants contribute to economy but there's worry over risks: US citizens

Americans are more worried about legal immigrants committing crimes in the U.S. than they were a few years ago, a change driven largely by increased concern among Republicans, while Democrats continue to see a broad range of benefits from immigration, a new poll shows. The poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that substantial shares of U.S. adults believe that immigrants contribute to the country's economic growth, and offer important contributions to American culture. But when it comes to legal immigrants, U.S. adults see fewer major benefits than they did in the past, and more major risks. About 4 in 10 Americans say that when immigrants come to the U.S. legally, it's a major benefit for American companies to get the expertise of skilled workers in fields like science and technology. A similar share (38%) also say that legal immigrants contribute a major benefit by enriching American culture and values. Both those figures were down compared

Nationalism and democracy

In a thriving democracy, free and fair elections are vital, but so is strengthening constitutionally empowered institutions

Ireland's PM condemns anti-immigrant protesters who rampaged through Dublin

Ireland's prime minister on Friday condemned anti-immigrant protesters who rampaged through central Dublin after three young children were stabbed, saying the rioters simply wanted to cause chaos, not protect the country's way of life. Police arrested 34 people overnight after up to 500 people looted shops, set fire to vehicles and threw rocks at crowd control officers equipped with helmets and shields. The violence began after rumours circulated that a foreign national was responsible for the attack outside a Dublin school on Thursday afternoon. Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said Ireland's capital had endured two attacks one on innocent children and the other on our society and the rule of law. These criminals did not do what they did because they love Ireland, they did not do what they did because they wanted to protect Irish people, they did not do it out of any sense of patriotism, however warped, Varadkar told reporters on Friday morning. They did so because they're filled with

Illegal border crossings into the US drop in Oct after 3-month streak

Illegal border crossings from Mexico fell 14 per cent in October from a month earlier, US authorities said, ending a three-month streak of big increases. US officials highlighted the resumption of deportation flights to Venezuela on October 18, shortly after Venezuelans replaced Mexicans as the largest nationality appearing at the border. Arrests of Venezuelans plummeted 45 per cent to 29,637 from 54,833, still second only to Mexicans. Arrests of Venezuelans fell even more, by 74 per cent, in the second half of October from the same period of September. Arrests for illegal crossings totalled 1,88,778 for all nationalities in October, down from 2,18,763 in September, which was the second-highest month on record. Arrests had more than doubled over the previous three months as migrants and smugglers adjusted to new asylum regulations introduced in May. Arrests of Chinese rose slightly to 4,247, with 99 per cent of them in the San Diego area, as more fly to Ecuador and make their way t

97,000 Indians held trying to enter US illegally between Oct '22-Sept '23

A record 96,917 Indians were arrested while crossing illegally into the US between October 2022 and September 2023, according to the latest US Customs and Border Protection (UCBP) data. Indians apprehended while crossing the US border unlawfully have reportedly witnessed a five-fold increase in the past years. In 2019-20, 19,883 Indians were apprehended. In 2020-21, 30,662 Indians were arrested while in 2021-22 this number was 63,927, according to the data. Of the 96,917 Indians arrested between October 2022 and September this year, 30,010 were caught on the Canadian border and 41,770 at the frontier with Mexico. Those arrested are classified under four categories Accompanied Minors (AM), Individuals in a Family Unit (FMUA), Single Adults, and Unaccompanied Children (UC). Single adults make up the largest category. In fiscal year 2023, 84,000 Indian adults crossed into the US illegally. 730 unaccompanied minors were among the arrested people. The US federal government's fiscal y

Canada plans to maintain immigration levels at 500,000 per year in 2026

Canadian Immigration Minister Marc Miller said that the target is meant to support the labour supply while easing pressures on housing and health care

Cyprus prepares for potential migrant influx due to Israel-Hamas war

Cyprus is doubling the existing 1,153-person capacity of its main migrant reception camp as the island nation prepares for potentially a large influx of people if the crisis in neighbouring Israel and Gaza escalates, authorities said Monday. The Pournara reception camp on the outskirts of the capital Nicosia will see an increase in staffing to adequately provide needed care to new arrivals and expedite asylum application processing, Cypriot Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou said in a statement. Authorities have evaluated different venues where migrants could be accommodated if arrivals exceed the capacity of the centre and would immediately ask the European Union to dispatch more personnel to help process asylum applications, the statement said. Nearly 200 migrants arrived in Cyprus aboard four separate boats on Saturday alone, likely setting sail from Lebanon which is 108 miles (174 km) from the country's eastern coastline - reported state broadcaster CyBC. Regular clashes

Indians top the list of those seeking citizenship in wealthy OECD nations

Out of those Indians who moved to OECD countries, 133,000 were granted nationality, the highest among all countries

Pakistan sets November 1 deadline for illegal immigrants to leave country

Pakistan's caretaker government has set November 1 as the deadline for thousands of illegal immigrants to leave the country or face deportation as the government intensified its crackdown against those involved in militancy and smuggling, Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti said on Tuesday. Speaking at a press briefing after a high-level meeting of the Apex Committee chaired by caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar and attended by Army Chief General Asim Munir among others, Bugti said that soon law enforcement agencies will get directions against the illegal immigrants. He said that the meeting held at the PM House took the decision to remove illegal residents under the National Action Plan which was devised in 2015 to deal with the threat of militancy. "The first decision taken is about our illegal immigrants who are living in Pakistan through illegal means. We have given them a deadline of November 1 to willingly return to their countries and if they don't, all law enforcement .

Under pressure over border, Biden admin to protect thousands of Venezuelans

The Biden administration said that it was granting temporary legal status to hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans who are already in the country quickly making them eligible to work as it grapples with growing numbers of people fleeing the South American country and elsewhere to arrive at the US border with Mexico. The move along with promises to accelerate work permits for many migrants may appease Democratic leaders who have pressured the White House to do more to aid asylum-seekers, while also providing grist for Republicans who say the president has been too lax on immigration. The Homeland Security Department plans to grant Temporary Protected Status to an estimated 4,72,000 Venezuelans who arrived in the country as of July 31, 2023, making it easier for them to get authorisation to work in the US. That's been a key demand of Democratic mayors and governors who are struggling to care for an increased number of migrants in their care. That's in addition to about 2,42,700 ...

India issues warning to expats in Canada after Trudeau's accusation

The advisory from India's external affairs ministry said students in particular should "remain vigilant," aiming its message at the huge population of young Indians attending Canada's colleges

Canada needs 30,000 new immigrants in agriculture sector, says report

Canada's agricultural sector is among the most diverse in the world though the degree of demand for foreign workers differs significantly by province and operation

Canada's population breaks record: Here's how you can apply for Canadian PR

Canada's population goes up by 2.7% population in 2022 which brings the total population count to 39,566,248, the fastest among the advanced economies

Illegal immigrants will not be able to apply for asylum: UK PM Sunak

Sunak's government is expected to push legislation cracking down on illegal immigration later this week, with a special emphasis on illegal immigrants arriving in boats across the English Channel

Immigrants continue to face cruelty, says Nobel laureate Abdulrazak Gurnah

He says while there has been a change in how people talk about migrants, what remains unchanged is the kind of panic the issue creates and the way the media presents it