Crossing the Canada-US border is becoming increasingly perilous, as an Indian family froze to death

Crossing the Canada-US Border is Becoming increasingly perilous, as an Indian Family Froze to Death

Jagdish Patel, his wife and their two children attempted to cross a nearly empty stretch of the Canadian border on the last night of their lives.

The temperature was minus 36 Fahrenheit (minus 38 Celsius) as the Indian family walked to meet their waiting van that night in January 2022. On an almost-moonless night, they navigated through vast farm fields and bulky snowdrifts.

As the driver waited at the border of Minnesota, he sent a text message to his boss requesting that everyone be dressed for the blizzard conditions.

Federal prosecutors accuse Harshkumar Patel of coordinating things in Canada with Steve Shand, the driver hired yesterday by Patel at a casino near their Florida homes.

Trial begins Monday for two men accused of engaging in a sophisticated human smuggling operation that feeds an illegal Indian population that is growing rapidly. Neither has pleaded guilty.

They allegedly discussed the bitter cold several times while smuggling five groups of Indians over that quiet stretch of border during their five-week collaboration.

A trip earlier, Shand messaged: “16 degrees cold as hell.” He asked: “Is anybody going to be alive? ”

Shand was to pick up 11 more Indian migrants, including the Patels, on his last trip on Jan. 19, 2022. A total of seven people survived.

Cold had killed the Patels later that morning, according to Canadian authorities. Jagdish Patel held a blanket-wrapped body of his 3-year-old son, Dharmik, in his frozen arms.

Advertisements for overseas relocation litter the streets of Dingucha, a quiet village in Gujarat, western India.

An advertisement promises to fulfill your dream of traveling abroad, listing three tantalizing destinations: “Canada. An Australian location. “United States.” During this time, the family began a deadly journey.

Originally from Dingucha, Jagdish Patel is 39 years old. Vihangi, 11 years old, and Dharmik, 11 years old, lived with him and Vaishaliben, his wife in her mid-30s.

(Patel is a common Indian surname, and the couple is not related to Harshkumar Patel.) Local news reports describe them as schoolteachers. Local standards showed that the family lived in a well-kept, two-story house with a wide front porch and a front patio.

During his days in the village, Vaibhav Jha, a local reporter, recounted the village’s modest lifestyle. Despite this, there was no urgency or desperation.”

Several factors contribute to illegal immigration from India, including political repression and a dysfunctional American immigration system.

Even low-wage jobs in the West can inspire optimism for a better future. Dingucha’s hopes changed.

Thousands of villagers have gone overseas – legally and illegally – leaving blocks of empty homes and social media feeds crowded with photos of old friends.

More people leave when that happens. “People grew up aspiring to the good life in the village,” Jha said.

People could be charged up to $90,000 by smuggling networks. Dingucha families, according to Jha, sold farmland to afford it.

Satveer Chaudhary, an immigration attorney based in Minneapolis, has helped migrants exploited by motel owners.

Smugglers with ties to Gujarati businesses have honed an underground network to bring low-wage workers into the country. Chaudhary said that their own community exploited them.

Indian illegal immigration has existed for decades, but has increased sharply along the U.S.-Canada border. Approximately 14,000 Indians were arrested on the Canadian border in the year ending Sept. 30, which is more than 10 times the number a year earlier.

Over 725,000 Indians will live illegally in the U.S. by 2022, behind only Mexicans and El Salvadorans.

Hundreds of such cases go unreported in India because of media attention, according to investigating officer Dilip Thakor.

Smuggling networks don’t need to warn Indians off because so many are trying to get to the U.S.

“People are told that crossing the border is very easy. Thakor said no one ever told him about the dangers.

They allegedly scouted for business in India, acquired Canadian student visas, arranged transportation, and smuggled migrants into the U.S. through Washington state and Minnesota.

Human smuggling charges will be filed on Monday in Fergus Falls, Minnesota, against Patel, 29, and Shand, 50.

According to the Associated Press, Patel came to America to escape poverty and build a better life and “stands unjustly accused.”

A spokeswoman for Shand’s attorneys did not respond. Shand told investigators Patel paid him about $25,000 for the five trips. Sadly, his final passengers never arrived.

Three hours before sunrise that morning, the 11 Indian migrants had wandered in bitter cold and gusting snow for hours trying to locate Shand. It was common to see jeans and rubber work boots on many people. Winter clothing was not worn by any of them.

The problem for Shand, however, was that he was stuck. Approximately 500 yards from the border, prosecutors allege, he drove into a ditch while driving a rented 15-passenger van to the pickup spot.

After some time, two migrants found themselves stumbling across the van. Eventually, a pipeline company worker pulled the vehicle from the ditch.

Immediately following that, a Border Patrol agent pulled over Shand as he was on the lookout for migrants.

Even as five more Indians wandered from the fields to the vehicle, including one who went in and out of consciousness, Shand insisted there was no one outside. During the past 11 hours, they had walked more than 11 miles.

While the migrants did not have children, one man had a backpack filled with toys, clothes for children, and diapers. The four Indians asked him to help them carry their young son, and he offered to hold it for them.

Separation had occurred sometime during the night. It wasn’t until hours later that the Patels’ bodies were found, in a field just inside Canada.

Dharmik was in Jagdish’s arms, and daughter Vihangi stood nearby. We walked just a few minutes to reach Vaishaliben.

Organizing a virtual prayer service for the Patels was Hemant Shah, an Indian businessman living in Winnipeg. Having endured tough winters, he cannot imagine their suffering.

How could these people have thought about crossing the border? ” Shah said. Greed, he said, took four lives: “There was no humanity.”

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