From selling buffaloes to mortgaging land, Punjab youth use Dubai to enter US

CHANDIGARH/AMRITSAR/JALANDHAR: From mortgaging land, taking bank loans and even selling off their buffaloes, families from Punjab have lost their entire earnings in sending a member of their family to the US.

As Punjab govt officials fanned across the state to find the details and the modus operandi of how they crossed over illegally, Dubai emerged as the main hub of agents operating 'donkey' routes to the US via Mexico.

The functionary said there were people in Punjab linked to the agents in Dubai who connect people to these agents and these linkages "would be looked into."

Akashdeep Singh, a 23-year-old, told the officials his family paid 45 lakh to an agent named Ashok based in Dubai to send him to the US.

After striking a deal with the Dubai-based agent through a family "friend" in Punjab, Akashdeep first went to Dubai on July 6 last year on a tourist visa before embarking on a nightmare journey to the US where he was caught on Jan 24 while crossing the border.

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