Hours after taking over on January 20 as the 47th American President, Donald Trump imposed a national emergency on the US' southern border with Mexico. On his orders, the US has started deploying troops along the border with Mexico, which he said was meant "to repel the disastrous invasion" of the US. Trump has also vowed to conduct what would be the biggest deportation drive of illegal immigrants in American history. The American experience with illegal immigration has similarities with the challenge that India faces. However, India has been grappling with these challenges on a different scale. Its attempt to fence a part of the Indo-Bangla border was prevented by Bangladesh Border Guards (BGB) recently. Just one example would suffice to show the magnitude of the problem. A Bangladeshi illegal immigrant not only made it to India, he travelled 2,000km and broke into actor Saif Ali Khan's house, in a posh Mumbai locality.
In India's case, the menace of illegal immigration primarily emanates from Bangladesh, with which it shares a 4,096-kilometre-long porous border. According to a 2016 government estimate, there are around 20 million illegal immigrants residing in India.
The US has around 11.7 million illegal, undocumented residents, according to a July 2023 estimate. Trump, who made illegal immigration one of his key campaign issues, has taken this up as a priority.
The Pentagon on Wednesday said it started deploying 1,500 active duty troops on its southern border. Trump has also moved to end birthright citizenship for the children of illegal or temporary migrants who would be born in the US. The new administration has also intensified local-level raids and searches in cities with significant migrant populations, Reuters reported.
The contrast in the US' action and India's situation was highlighted by strategic thinker and commentator Brahma Chellaney on X, where he pointed out, "There are more illegally settled Bangladeshis in India than illegal aliens in the US".
The scale and impact of "illegal migration of millions" into India was also flagged by Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Tuesday. He identified "demographic disruption" as a serious threat to India that he said has now grown to "unmanageable dimensions".
After the August 5 ouster of Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina, which resulted in turmoil in the country, there has been a massive increase in attempts at illegal immigration into Assam, according to Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. Indian security forces detained and "pushed back around 1,000 illegal migrants" between August 2024 and January 2025, he claimed.
INDIA FACES BANGLADESH RESISTANCE IN FENCING ITS BORDERS
In January 2025 alone, India's Central Border Security Force (BSF), which is mandated to protect the border, prevent illegal activities, and combat terrorism along the international border with Bangladesh, faced much resistance in putting up barbed-wire fences along the border.
Two weeks ago in West Bengal's Malda, tensions flared after a verbal altercation broke out between the BSF personnel and the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) over India's ongoing fencing work. The BGB raised concerns, calling the fencing a 'violation of a bilateral agreement'.
Following that, India on January 13 summoned Bangladesh's Acting High Commissioner, Nural Islam, to discuss "security measures at the border, including on fencing". Earlier, Dhaka had summoned Indian High Commissioner Pranay Verma and expressed "deep concern" over "recent activities of the BSF".
Now, both countries are now engaged in dialogue to resolve border issues after weeks of heightened tensions, reported the Chandigarh-based The Tribune on Wednesday. However, at the same time, the BGB on Tuesday prevented the BSF from putting up a fence at Joypurhat's Panchbibi upazila (bordering West Bengal's Dakshin Dinajpur district), reported Dhaka-based The Daily Star.
WHY IS IT TOUGH TO SECURE INDIA-BANGLADESH BORDER?
India's 4,096-kilometre-long border with Bangladesh passes through rivers (both marshy, mighty), chars (islands), enclaves and exclaves, treacherous terrains, and even densely populated villages. Unlike the US-Mexico border, which is marked by desert terrain, these challenges and realities make the implementation of fencing projects challenging.
Apart from these factors, a 1975 bilateral agreement between India and Bangladesh, which the latter has often referred to, has emerged as a hot-button issue in the post-Hasina era and was brought up after India's attempts at border fencing.
The 1975 Joint India-Bangladesh Guidelines for Border Authorities, prohibits the construction of defence structures within 150 yards of the international boundary.
"No permanent post will be constructed till the final demarcation has been done and the problem (final demarcation of international borders) is resolved... If defensive works of any nature, including trenches, exist in the stretch of 300 yards (150 yards on each side of the boundary, these must be destroyed or filled up," says the 1975 agreement.
India does not see the use of barbed wire fencing as a "defence structure". But Bangladesh does so.
Moreover, India's installation of "smart fencing", equipped with CCTV and electronic surveillance devices, is also opposed by Bangladesh, reported The Indian Express, quoting former Inspector General Surjeet Singh Guleria (retired), who served in the Border Security Force (BSF) for 37 years.
Therefore, when the 150-yard rule (as per the 1975 Joint India-Bangladesh Guidelines for Border Authorities) cannot be followed due to geographical or physical constraints like villages, the situation is managed through discussions on the ground. In such cases, BSF and BGB officers push the fence closer to the zero line, the actual borderline, to circumvent the physical obstacle, after mutual agreement.
According to a Ministry of Home Affairs press release from August 2022, 3,141 kilometres of the 4,096-kilometre-long border is fenced. This translates to around 23.35% of the border being unfenced. This very absence of fencing, often near rivers or human settlements, has for decades led to illegal immigration into India.
It's not just the BGB, even Bangladeshis throw crude bombs and resort to violence to deter fencing of the border. An unfenced border helps the locals with smuggling goods and cattle into Bangladesh and people into India.
HOW MANY ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS IN INDIA?
While Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Sriprakash Jaiswal stated in 2004, during PM Manmohan Singh's government, that 12 million illegal Bangladeshi infiltrators were living in India, Kiren Rijiju, Minister of State for Home Affairs in the Modi government, more recently estimated the figure at around 20 million in 2016.
However, an affidavit submitted by Union Home secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla in December 2023 said, "Since entry of such foreign nationals into the country is clandestine and surreptitious, it is not possible to collect accurate data of such illegal migrants living in various parts of the country."
"The detection, detention and deportation of such illegally staying foreign nationals is a complex, ongoing process," it added.
DEMERITS OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION INTO INDIA, VP DHANKHAR WARNS
The alarm over illegal immigration into India, which has sparked a decade-long agitation in Assam, has been flagged on multiple occasions by its chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.
Assam shares a 263-kilometre-long border with Bangladesh.
Earlier this month, Sarma claimed a "massive increase" in attempts at undocumented immigration into the state following the political crisis in neighbouring Bangladesh, India Today NE reported on January 3.
"Every day, Assam Police are detecting 20 to 30 infiltrators and equal numbers are also being witnessed in Tripura... So when we tried to research why this is happening, [we found that] after the unrest in Bangladesh, the textile industry has virtually collapsed," Sarma said. He added that the BSF had detained and pushed back about 1,000 undocumented migrants since August 2024, a PTI report quoted Sarma as saying.
Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar, while calling "illegal infiltration" a big problem, said it resulted in "demographic disruption" and threatened nationalism. He underlined it could destabilise democracy.
"... If a demographic explosion takes place only to destabilise a democracy, it is a matter of concern, and we have orchestration of conversions through allurements. It's everyone's supreme right to decide for oneself, but if that decision is motivated by allurement, temptation with an object to change the organic demography of the nation, it is a concern which we must all take note of and address," he said.
Despite being aware of the massive problem of illegal immigration and seeing its impact, India has been unable to do much. For this, lack of political will is as much to blame as geographical constraints. That is why US is able to act aggressively on illegal immigration, while India has failed to do much.
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