Young Indians have been making a ‘do or die’ journey to live the American dream

Karnal, India CNN —

The sun blisters the arid ground in Karnal, a district in India’s northern Haryana state, where empty houses stand testament to an acute problem that’s driving some residents to take unimaginable risks.

There are no jobs here, so young educated locals who dream of a better life are paying thousands of dollars to flee the world’s fastest growing major economy for the United States.

“It is the donkey way,” said law student Ankit Chaudhary. “It is a route which is going through many of the countries and then we will jump the wall of the USA.”

Chaudhary told CNN he paid an agent more than $50,000 to help him cross multiple borders and traverse the dangerous jungles of Latin America to illegally enter the United States.

But he lost his money and the opportunity to flee when his agent was raided.

Ankit Chaudhary says he paid an agent to help him take the 'donkey route' into the US but lost his money.

The risky journey is part of a worrying new trend in the country of 1.4 billion people, and one that could strain ties between the India and the US, where illegal immigration remains a key issue ahead of November’s presidential vote.

In just four years, the number of Indian citizens illegally entering the US has surged dramatically — from 8,027 in the 2018 to 2019 fiscal year to 96,917 during 2022 to 2023 period, government data showed.

Recent Pew research found that as of 2022, Indians made up the third-largest group of undocumented migrants in the US, behind people from Mexico and El Salvador.

Supporters throw petals on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he arrives at Bharatiya Janata Party headquarters in New Delhi on June 4.

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