Illegal immigration business with a sad ending
An Indian national who smuggled people to the U.S. across the Canadian border has pleaded guilty in court.
Immigration laws in North America are quite strict. Not only because immigrants planning to move to the U.S. or Canada must follow immigration procedures, but also because only certified visa counselors are authorized to provide immigration assistance. However, not everyone follows these laws. Some people break the law and for financial reward illegally help others to come to Canada or the United States, or from Canada to the United States, as we will see below.
An Indian national who had been living in Ontario pleaded guilty in a U.S. court on Friday to smuggling Indian nationals into the U.S. through the Canadian border in 2020-21. Simranjit Singh, 40, was arrested in Ontario last June before being extradited from Canada to the US for trial.
"In pleading guilty, Singh admitted that from at least March of 2020 through March of 2021, he facilitated the smuggling of numerous Indian nationals from Canada into the United States, via Cornwall Island and the Akwesasne Mohawk Indian Reservation in the St. Lawrence River region, for profit," stated a Friday press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of New York.
Singh, who lived in Brampton, Ontario, faces a minimum of 5 years in prison, but there is also a possibility of a 15-year prison sentence and a fine of up to USD 250,000 and three years of post-release supervision. According to the above press release, Singh pleaded guilty to "alien smuggling and conspiracy to commit alien smuggling." The immigration court also ordered Singh to be deported from the U.S. after he serves his sentence.
According to documents released in April, some Indian migrants who entered the U.S. from Canada testified that Simranjit Singh facilitated their entry into the U.S. and also claimed he charged them fees ranging from CAD 5,000 to CAD 35,000 to do so. The documents detail Singh's conversations with contacts, including someone codenamed "CW-1". In one instance, she dropped off three Indian nationals at a motel in New York before traveling to the island of Cornwall to meet Singh and receive CAD 4,000 in payment.
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