In recent times, there have been reports of people/families of Indian origin trying to cross into the US from Mexico and Canada and dying in the process. For instance, a four-member family of Gujarati origin had drowned while trying to cross the St Lawrence river on a boat at the Quebec-New York border in April this year. A Pew Research Center report said that Indians constituted the third largest unauthorised population in the US in 2021, only behind illegal immigrants from Mexico and El Salvador; in absolute numbers, illegal Indian Americans numbered 725,000. To put the number in perspective, one in every six Indian Americans is undocumented. This underbelly often gets hidden behind the spectacular success stories of Indian Americans, the “model minority” of the US. That the median household income of an Indian American family is $130,000 explains why Indians are drawn to seeking a better future in the US, or Canada.

Curiously, a majority of those on board the Legend Airlines flight were from Punjab and Gujarat, two relatively prosperous states. It could well be that both are aspirational societies that have a long exposure to migration to the West. Ethnicity matters in the diaspora, which also maintains links with the “pind” or “desh”, and therefore, offers the prospect of a safety net for illegal migrants. However, this is a moment for the authorities to pause and ask why Indians are willing to risk money and lives to leave their country and explore an uncertain future in faraway lands. And to crack down on those who encourage and facilitate such endeavours.