79 Nepalese in US Immigration Jail awaiting release

KATHMANDU: It has been revealed that there are 79 undocumented Nepalese in the US Immigration Jail. Most of them have been arrested for trying to enter the United States illegally through Mexico.

According to the ICE, the American authority for matters related to immigration and prisons, there are 79 Nepalese in New York, Texas, California and other prisons. Most of the Nepalese in jail have already received deportation orders. However, they have applied for asylum.

Some cases are being heard by the Board of Immigration after being rejected by the immigration court. Some have been saved from deportation from the United States due to lack of travel documents. There are also Nepalese in jails in Arizona, Georgia and Alabama. 

The number of Nepalese secretly arriving in the United States has dropped after the COVID pandemic and tightening of the Mexico border by the Trump administration. Nepalese in US jails have expressed hope that they will be released with Biden’s presidency.

This is because the bill sent to the parliament on the first day of Biden’s tenure states that the undocumented before January 1 will be taken towards Green Card processing. This is expected to benefit Nepalese in immigration jails.

If passed, the bill would open ways for Nepalese undocumented until 1st January 2021 to obtain a green card and citizenship in the United States. However, it is unknown at this time whether it will be passed.