New York: The United States has moved to choke off human-smuggling routes originating in India, announcing visa restrictions on owners, executives and senior officials of Indian travel agencies that “knowingly facilitate illegal immigration.”

In a statement released Monday, the US State Department said officers from Mission India’s Consular Affairs section and Diplomatic Security Service had gathered evidence linking a number of India-based agencies to organised networks that move migrants into the United States via fraudulent documents and dangerous over-land or maritime corridors.

“Our immigration policy aims not only to warn foreign nationals about the dangers of illegal entry, but also to hold accountable those who profit from it,” the statement read, stressing that enforcement “is critical to upholding the rule of law and protecting Americans.”

The new penalties fall under a global visa-restriction policy that allows Washington to deny or revoke visas for individuals believed to be aiding human smuggling, even if they would normally qualify for programmes such as ESTA under the Visa Waiver regime.

A US Embassy official in New Delhi declined to name the affected firms, citing visa-record confidentiality rules, but confirmed that “owners, C-suite executives and senior managers” are the primary targets.

Indian nationals are among the fastest-growing cohorts of irregular migrants encountered at the US southern border. According to Customs and Border Protection data, more than 96,000 Indians were apprehended in fiscal year 2024, a six-fold increase over 2022. American officials say many purchase high-priced “door-to-door” packages from travel brokers who arrange forged paperwork and multi-country transit loops through Central America.

The Biden administration has recently escalated actions against facilitators worldwide, freezing assets, sharing intelligence with transit countries and now leveraging immigration law to impose personal costs on company leadership.

Indian authorities have yet to comment publicly on the US move, but earlier crackdowns by the Central Bureau of Investigation and state police forces have led to arrests of agents accused of forging documents and staging sham student-visa applications.

US officials indicated Monday that further designations are “already in the pipeline” as investigations continue. Travelers found to be using the named agencies may also face heightened scrutiny at American ports of entry, they added.