Page 52 - Latest Updates on Immigration

US agency deports over 272K people to 192 nations, highest since 2014

US Immigration and Customs Enforcement deported more than 270,000 people to 192 countries, including India, over a recent 12-month period, the highest annual tally in a decade, according to a report released Thursday that illustrates some of the financial and operational challenges that President-elect Donald Trump will face to carry out his pledge of mass deportations. ICE, the main government agency responsible for removing people in the country illegally, had 271,484 deportations in its fiscal year ended Sept 30, nearly double from 142,580 in the same period a year earlier. It was ICE's highest deportation count since 2014, when it removed 315,943 people. The highest it reached during Trump's first term in the White House was 267,258 in 2019. Increased deportation flights, including on weekends, and streamlined travel procedures for people sent to Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador fuelled the increase, ICE said. The agency had its first large flight to China in six years and al

Immigration drives US population growth to highest rate in 23 years

Immigration to the United States in 2024 drove US population growth to its fastest rate in 23 years as the nation surpassed 340 million residents, the US Census Bureau said Thursday. The 1% growth rate this year was the highest it has been since 2001, and it was a marked contrast to the record low of 0.2% set in 2021 at the height of pandemic restrictions on travel to the United States, according to the annual population estimates. Immigration this year increased by 2.8 million people, partly because of a new method of counting that adds people who were admitted for humanitarian reasons. Net international migration accounted for 84% of the nation's 3.3 million-person increase between 2023 and 2024. Births outnumbered deaths in the United States by almost 519,000 between 2023 and 2024, which was an improvement over the historic low of 146,000 in 2021 but still well below the highs of previous decades. The group of people being included in the international migration estimates are th

Iceland heads for Parliamentary polls; immigration, inflation key issues

Icelanders will elect a new parliament Saturday after disagreements over immigration, energy policy and the economy forced Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson to pull the plug on his coalition government and call early elections. This is Iceland's sixth general election since the 2008 financial crisis devastated the economy of the North Atlantic island nation and ushered in a new era of political instability. Opinion polls suggest the country may be in for another upheaval, with support for the three governing parties plunging. Benediktsson, who was named prime minister in April following the resignation of his predecessor, struggled to hold together the unlikely coalition of his conservative Independence Party with the centrist Progressive Party and the Left-Green Movement. Iceland, a nation of about 400,000 people, is proud of its democratic traditions, describing itself as arguably the world's oldest parliamentary democracy. The island's parliament, the Althingi, was founded in 93

Immigration fraud: How Mohali man duped job seekers with fake visa promises

The accused, Jalwinder Singh, 25, was running "Visa Tour Immigration Consultancy" in the Phase-5 market of Mohali without a valid licence

Trump's presidency and Project 2025: A recipe for radical change?

Border walls and policy brawls: Project 2025 fuels fears of radical policy shifts as its far-right proposals, from immigration to education, keep the US on the edge

Hope to deter illegal immigration with cooperation from US, says MEA

Days after the US authorities deported a batch of Indian nationals who were staying in that country illegally, New Delhi Saturday said it hopes that with India-US cooperation on mobility and migration, "we will be able to deter illegal immigration". At his weekly briefing here, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India engages in "regular dialogue" with the United States on migration and mobility. "On October 22, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), through US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), conducted a large-frame charter removal flight to the Republic of India of Indian nationals who did not establish a legal basis to remain in the United States," the DHS said in a statement last week. This week's flight demonstrates the department's continued commitment to pursuing "sustained cooperation" with the Indian government and other international partners to reduce and deter irregular migration and jointly work to counter human smuggling, it had said. Jaiswal, in .

Centre designates Assam's Darranga as authorised immigration check post

This designation allows for the entry into and exit from India for all classes of passengers with valid travel documents, following sub-rule (b) of rule 3 of the Passport (Entry into India) Rules, 195

Could Elon Musk lose US citizenship over alleged immigration lies?

A report from The Washington Post suggests that Musk may have worked in the US illegally in the 1990s

Immigration policy remains contentious issue in US prez election campaign

With just nine days left for Election Day, immigration remained one of the contentious issues in the US presidential campaign, with many immigrants, including from India and other South Asian nations, fearing a backlash if Republican hopeful Donald Trump wins the poll. In his campaign speeches, Trump promised a radical shift to tighten Washington's immigration policy and vowed to carry out the "largest" domestic deportation operation in American history of undocumented immigrants and review the existing refugee programmes if he is re-elected. The Republican leader has even resolved to end birthright citizenship for the children of immigrants living in the US illegally, triggering concerns among various diaspora communities, including from Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. Various pro-immigration advocacy groups have criticised Trump over his rhetoric on immigration, saying the discontinuation of birthright citizenship is legally questionable as it is enshrined in the 14th Amendment of

US hires chartered flight to send back Indians staying in country illegally

The United States hired a chartered flight to send back Indian nationals who stayed in the US illegally, the Department of Homeland Security said on Friday, noting that this has been done in cooperation with the Indian government. Indian nationals without a legal basis to remain in the United States are subject to swift removal, and intending migrants should not fall for the lies of smugglers who proclaim otherwise, said a senior official performing the duties of Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security Kristie A. Canegallo. The charter flight was sent to India on October 22. The statement said DHS continues to enforce US immigration laws and deliver tough consequences for those who enter unlawfully by swiftly returning those without a legal basis to remain in the United States while encouraging the use of lawful pathways. Since June 2024, when the Securing the Border Presidential Proclamation and accompanying Interim Final Rule went into effect, encounters between ports of entry alon

Canada tightens its foreign worker regulation to favour domestic workers

The newly implemented regulations aim to incentivise companies to hire Canadians before resorting to foreign talent

Your face could be your boarding pass: India plans biometric for foreigners

Currently, the DigiYatra service is only available for domestic travellers in India at select airports

Fast-track immigration at Delhi, 20 more airports: How does it function?

The Fast Track Immigration Trusted Traveller Programme (FTI-TTP) has already seen success at Delhi's airport, with 18,400 Indian passports and OCI card holders currently enrolled

Fact-check: Trump's debate claims on crime, immigration, and Project 2025

After a heated debate between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, Taylor Swift publicly endorsed her preferred candidate for the 2024 election through an Instagram post

Singapore steps up checks at immigration points ahead of Pope's visit org

Singapore has stepped up checks at immigration entry points from Monday, citing a "heightened security situation" in the region ahead of Pope Francis' visit to the city-state. Travellers arriving at land, air and sea checkpoints will undergo "enhanced security checks" and should factor in extra time for immigration clearance, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) said in a Facebook post on Sunday. In view of the heightened security situation in the region, ICA will be implementing enhanced security checks on arriving travellers and conveyances at the land, air and sea checkpoints from September 9 to 14, 2024, said the post. Though the ICA has not given any reason for the heightened security situation in the region, some media reports suggest it could be related to Pope Francis' visit to the city-state from September 11-13. Pope Francis will visit Singapore this week for the final leg of his Asia Pacific tour. He is currently halfway through his 12-day trip, the longest an

France's new PM signals rightward tilt, vows harder stance on immigration

Barnier said that his government, which lacks a clear majority in a hung lower house of parliament, will include conservatives

Best of BS Opinion: Difficult conversations we must have and more

Here is the best of Business Standard's opinion pieces for today

Amid surging immigration, crackdown ensnares students studying abroad

In Canada, where one in 40 people is an international student, a government clampdown is forcing puppy mill colleges to shut down programmes

Canadian immigration min says reform required in temporary worker programme

Labour Minister Randy Boissonnault is considering "a refusal to process in the low wage stream if the abuse and misuse does not improve," said labour ministry spokesperson Mathis Denis

UK police' standing army gears for more far-right anti-immigration clashes

Thousands of police personnel, including those with specialist training, are geared up as the so-called standing army of defence against an expected surge of far-right anti-immigration protests on Wednesday, this time targeted at immigration lawyers and their offices. After a week of violent clashes on the streets of different cities across the UK, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer chaired his second emergency COBRA meeting on Tuesday evening with ministers, police chiefs and security experts to draft a detailed strategy to counter any further riots. A list of solicitors' firms and immigration advice agencies has been circulating online, inviting protesters to "mask up" and turn out described by the government as unacceptable. We're doing everything we can to ensure that where a police response is needed, it's in place, where support is needed for particular places, that is in place, Starmer told reporters after the Cabinet Office Briefing Room A (COBRA) meeting. Obviously it's a