Illegal immigration from India to the United States declined sharply over the past three years, with US border authorities recording 20,614 encounters with Indian migrants through May of fiscal year (FY)
2026, down nearly 69% from the same period in FY2023, when irregular migration from India reached record levels. According to an analysis of US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data, encounters involving Indian migrants during the first eight months of FY2023 had peaked at 67,212. The US fiscal year runs from October to September.
Border Crossings See Sharpest Fall
The steepest drop has been recorded along the US-Mexico border. CBP data analysed by Hindustan Times shows that encounters involving Indian migrants at the southwestern border fell to just 417 between October 2025 and May 2026. This marks a nearly 99% decline from 30,109 encounters recorded during the corresponding period in FY2023.
The northern border with Canada has also witnessed a substantial reduction. Through May FY2026, US authorities recorded 2,250 encounters involving Indian migrants along the Canadian border, down 91% from the comparable period in FY2024.
Overall, nationwide encounters with Indian migrants stood at 20,614 through May FY2026, compared with nearly 29,000 during the same period a year earlier and more than 67,000 during the FY2023 peak.
Tougher Policies Driving Decline
Gilbert Guerra of the Washington-based Niskanen Center said that stricter asylum policies have altered the risk-reward calculation for migrants considering irregular entry into the United States.
“I think what we’ve seen is that making it so that people do not think that they actually have a chance of a good outcome if they come here through these channels does have an impact,” Guerra told the newspaper, noting that migration journeys from India are significantly more expensive than those undertaken by migrants from neighbouring Latin American countries.
