68 Indians detained in Washington for crossing into illegally

mangaloretoday.com

Washington,Aug 16: The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) department said at least 68 Indian nationals have been taken into custody at a detention center near Seattle in Washington, US for allegedly crossing into the country illegally, .

 

Of them, about half were detained in the last one month while they tried to sneak illegally into the United States from across the border, said Satnam Singh Chahal, the director of US-based North American Punjabi Association (NAPA) that obtained the information from the ICE.

Most of them hail from Punjab, he said.

At present 68 Indians are in custody at its contract detention center in Tacoma, said ICE’s western regional spokesperson Virginia Kice.

While their arrest dates vary widely, majority of them were taken into custody this year and about half were arrested in the last 30 days, she said.

When undocumented immigrants move through government-run detention centers in the US, it can take months before they find out if they’ll be deported or allowed to stay in the country, Chahal said.

During this long wait, many may get frustrated, he said.