Fifteen people of the greater Noakhali District of Bangladesh who wished to come to the United States, the land of dreams, paid a human trafficker about $22,000 each, to help them get there. All 15 left from Bangladesh, traveled through India, then Russia, Guatemala, and finally, Mexico. The trafficker left them in a desert along with 60 to 70 others near the Texas border. The groups were kept at least five or six miles away from each other, so that if a border patrol caught one group, the other groups had a chance to get away.

Before entering Mexico, the Bangladeshi groups were divided into two groups. Once in Mexico, both groups waited for seven days before receiving the signal to cross the border. In the meantime, the agents hired by Mexican traffickers supplied them with food regularly.

A group of 35 was eventually arrested by the Mexican police after spending two nights walking around the desert, putting their lives at risk. Of the 35 arrested, at least seven were Bangladeshis. The others were still at large, and have not entered the United States. However they reported over the phone to their relatives in the United States that they could not find the agent who’d agreed to get them across the border. Their relatives have since sought cooperation to get the Bangladeshis released from prison.

About one-and-a-half years ago, at least a dozen Bangladeshis were arrested after entering Texas through Mexico. Several of them were from Noakhali. Their relatives in New York were able to get them released by working with the Noakhali Society (an Bangladeshi organization committed to addressing the rights and issues of its community)

The individuals who are currently detained in Mexico and unable to enter the United States will have little to survive on, having sold all of their possessions back home to pay the traffickers.

Sheikh Mohammed Belal, the Minister of the Embassy of Bangladesh in Washington D.C., said that he has no information about this situation; however, he explained, if any Bangladeshi is arrested in Mexico, the Washington embassy should be informed because the diplomatic connection of Bangladesh and Mexico is maintained from Washington. There is no separate Bangladeshi embassy in Mexico.

Meanwhile, as the immigration bill debate continues in the U.S. Senate, many Bangladeshis from New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Washington Metro area, Michigan, Florida, and California have been arrested. They had been under deportation orders for several years.