3 ms·

> The second, serving migrants from India, offers charter flights to Central America and overland transfers to the U.S. border for between 6 million ($72,000) a

> The second, serving migrants from India, offers charter flights to Central America and overland transfers to the U.S. border for between 6 million ($72,000) and 8 million rupees ($96,000) per person – in many instances with full payment due after arrival in the U.S, according to Indian court documents and K.T. Kamariya, a deputy superintendent of police in the western Indian state of Gujarat investigating illegal migration. Not every undocumented migrant is poor - especially those coming from Asia and taking the Central American pathway, which is what this investigation by Reuters is about. This is the Reuters investigation into the India-Dubai-France-El Salvador-Mexico route that was disrupted by French intelligence recently - https://apnews.com/article/france-indians-plane-grounded-human-trafficking-147e6408f2df4ec26a7033cb2c429424 https://apnews.com/article/france-indians-plane-grounded-hum... Destitute Asians immigrate illegally to the Gulf, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia - where salaries, living standards, and protections for the poor and undocumented are horrid. They don't have the funds to fly to and get a visa to much of Central America (at minimum a $4-7k endeavor with an additional $6-8k to go donkey from there to the border). That is middle and upper middle class money in a lot of Asia.

atemerev 2y ago
Well, they are doing it voluntarily — meaning that living standards at their home countries are even more horrid.
- ta20240528 2y ago
  My personal observation is that its not today's living standards that is their concern, but fear of what tomorrow's living standards will be that drives most of this migration amongst the youth..
- ClumsyPilot 2y ago
  That’s the thing, with that kind of money, no. Most people do not realise that living standards I. The west aren’t that great any more for an average nobody.
082349872349872 2y ago
Those who are not poor are usually better at legal* loopholes. Having watched No Country for Old Men (in which a bunch of characters are perfectly horrid to each other for amazingly small amounts of money), I'd suspect dropping 14k somewhere like Henley&Partners might offer better options than the reported 70k for one of these packages? * are they discovered or are they invented? this is a question of philosophy among the community serving (U)HNWIs. EDIT: on the other hand, if the objective were avoiding even a hint of KYC (as in 935 Pennsylvania's NOC theory of "illegals"), maybe these pathways would make sense?
- alephnerd 2y ago
  > Those who are not poor are usually better at legal* loopholes > I'd suspect dropping 14k somewhere like Henley&Partners might offer better options than the reported 70k for one of these packages My Tau's land in the old country is now valued at $100-150k thanks to a highway expansion tender and can generate $15k a year being rented out to Reliance Jio as a gas pump, and the remaining land is still tilled and gets MSP benefits of $5k. That's a passive income if $20k/yr in a small Himalayan village. My Tau has a high school education and has never heard of the American legal system or investors visas. This is a common story with the rural middle and upper class. With that level of money, it's very easy to make a successful business in India, China, or Vietnam, but a mix of ignorance and Social Media convinces gullible people that this is the only way.

atemerev 2y ago

Well, they are doing it voluntarily — meaning that living standards at their home countries are even more horrid.

ta20240528 2y ago
My personal observation is that its not today's living standards that is their concern, but fear of what tomorrow's living standards will be that drives most of this migration amongst the youth..
ClumsyPilot 2y ago
That’s the thing, with that kind of money, no. Most people do not realise that living standards I. The west aren’t that great any more for an average nobody.

082349872349872 2y ago

Those who are not poor are usually better at legal* loopholes. Having watched No Country for Old Men (in which a bunch of characters are perfectly horrid to each other for amazingly small amounts of money), I'd suspect dropping 14k somewhere like Henley&Partners might offer better options than the reported 70k for one of these packages? * are they discovered or are they invented? this is a question of philosophy among the community serving (U)HNWIs. EDIT: on the other hand, if the objective were avoiding even a hint of KYC (as in 935 Pennsylvania's NOC theory of "illegals"), maybe these pathways would make sense?

alephnerd 2y ago
> Those who are not poor are usually better at legal* loopholes > I'd suspect dropping 14k somewhere like Henley&Partners might offer better options than the reported 70k for one of these packages My Tau's land in the old country is now valued at $100-150k thanks to a highway expansion tender and can generate $15k a year being rented out to Reliance Jio as a gas pump, and the remaining land is still tilled and gets MSP benefits of $5k. That's a passive income if $20k/yr in a small Himalayan village. My Tau has a high school education and has never heard of the American legal system or investors visas. This is a common story with the rural middle and upper class. With that level of money, it's very easy to make a successful business in India, China, or Vietnam, but a mix of ignorance and Social Media convinces gullible people that this is the only way.