The Pink Immigration Crisis: How Racism, Sexism, and Politics Shape Modern Migration
In the 1990s, in Punjab, India, the government launched a crackdown on Sikh Khalistani militants, throwing the state into turmoil and violence throughout the region. People were forced to leave Punjab in an attempt to escape the bloodshed. One such woman, as per a BBC article, was Harjit Kaur, who left for the US in 1991 with her two sons. She made several unsuccessful attempts to seek a political asylum. Despite the rejected appeals, she continued to work in the US without authorization while paying her taxes to the government and spent two decades as a sari store seamstress.
After Donald Trump was elected as President, anti immigrant rhetoric rose significantly. Despite the fact that 73 year old Harjit Kaur was legally permitted to stay as an asylum applicant, she was arrested in San Francisco on September 8, 2025, when she had gone for a regular check-in with the immigration department. On September 19, she was moved to a holding facility in Georgia with poor conditions. On September 22, she was deported to India without getting to bid farewell to her family or friends. The Sikh community expressed outrage, but no one listened. This is the state of immigrants, legal or illegal, in countries like the US.
A Dive into Immigration Statistics
Most immigrants, whether legal or illegal, come from India, Africa, Mexico, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East. About 50% of total immigrants are women.
In the USA, Mexican immigrants are the most numerous, with a population of 10.7 to 11.6 million, followed by Indian immigrants, 2.4 to 2.8 million, China with around 2.2 million immigrants, and the Philippines with around 2 million. This 2024 data is based on a 2022 estimates sourced from the Migration Policy Institute.
In the UK, Indians hold the first rank, followed by Pakistanis, Nigerians, Chinese and Bangladeshis. In France, the top immigrant populations are Algerians, Moroccans and the Portuguese. In Germany, they are from Poland, Turkey, Russia, Ukraine and Syria. In Canada, the top groups are from India, the Philippines, China, Nigeria, Cameroon, Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iran and Pakistan. In Australia, they are from the UK, New Zealand, China, India and the Philippines.
A Surge in Immigration
So, it is the year 1492— Shhh..... We do not talk about that.
Let's just talk about the 1970s which saw the era of neoliberalism: free markets and minimal government regulation. In 1983, Theodore Levitt, a German-American economist, popularized the term "globalization," describing how the world was interconnecting via economy, politics, and culture. An increase in immigration rates to the Western countries occurred particularly during this time. The Cold War ended in 1991 with the dissolution of the USSR, and many were attracted to the developed and modernized capitalist economies, wanting to live the "American Dream." Many emigrated seeking job opportunities and quality education in the West; but not everyone had a passionate story behind their move.
Countries in Africa, the Middle East, parts of South Asia, and Central and Latin America were regions of political instability, conflict, and violence. Ironically, most conflicts were caused by the expertise of European cartography, worsened by US involvement or occupation. Women escaping Iran and Taliban-Afghanistan fled Sharia law, which objectified their mere existence. Conflict hit women and children hardest, and many escaped sexual violence by men. Some were willing to take the dangerous and illegal dunki (in Punjabi) or "donkey route", to get to Europe and the USA, even though the number of dunki route travelers is higher for men.
Some escape the countries hit by climate change, particularly women, who face extra burden under drought conditions accompanied by domestic violence, poverty, child marriage and other forms of labor exploitation. Again, this climate change can be traced back to the "developed" world with higher carbon footprints.
The Crucial Role of Immigrants
Immigrants drive the economy by increasing the workforce, undertaking businesses and boosting consumer spending. It boosts a country's income and GDP, improving the dynamic landscape of the country. None of this is harmful obviously.
In fact, immigrants have slowly become important in the countries' political process. Zohran Mamdani, a socialist of Indian-Ugandan origin, was elected as the mayor of NYC after the November 4, 2025 election which many consider a significant achievement.
Moreover, women like Kamala Harris became the first Indian-Jamaican origin vice president in the US history in the 2020 elections. Ayaan Hirsi Ali is a Somali born politician who served as a member of the Dutch House of Representatives, is now a prominent author and political activist in the US. Madeleine Albright was a Czech immigrant who became the first female US Secretary of State, serving from 1997 to 2001.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Further, these immigrants enrich and diversify the culture of America and other countries where they migrate while simultaneously adapting the beautiful Western culture.
What Went Wrong and Why Are Women Immigrants More Vulnerable?
As the number of immigrants increased, insecurity among white supremacists doubled. Right wing populist politicians began to exploit popular emotions to their advantage. Racist and xenophobic stereotypes heightened, especially against Indians. Indians in London own more property, surpassing native British, creating an economic envy, as if their government did not take trillions from India in the past. Indians have been CEOs of top firms like Microsoft, Google, YouTube, Adobe and IBM many view it as a sort of economic invasion. Someone should give these bigots a history book honestly...
But such racial rhetoric manifests in ugly ways. An Indian origin woman was raped in a racially aggravated attack in the West Midlands region of England by a British man in October 2025. He was arrested afterwards. Similarly, in Ireland, in August 2025, a racist mob of white teens assaulted a 6 year old Indian girl, pulled her hair, shouted racial slurs and hit her private parts with a bicycle. It does not take rocket science to understand that rape and sexual assault are wrong but we have fascists defending and excusing this stuff.
Muslim immigrants also face discrimination based on alleged Islamic incompatibility with the West. Women in hijab or burqa are mocked and harassed, with certain videos of a woman's hijab being pulled off by another woman, without any regard for personal choice. While it is true that a few immigrants inspired by Islamism demand Sharia law and make the Hijab mandatory, the majority, especially women, just want to live peacefully in these countries after they have escaped the conflict zones and poverty. Even Muslim women who identify as ex-Muslims are not free from the stigma either sometimes, because they are still foreigners. Imagine the fear among these women who had escaped the strict laws of theocracies.
Particularly during Donald Trump's administration, racism in the USA has increased manifold. The MAGA base operates under the illusion that their racist and hateful actions will not have consequences, and hence, have indulged in violent acts against immigrants not sparing women either. Surprised? No. Disappointed? Yes.
They circulate stereotypical videos of immigrant populations to spread xenophobia, racism, and Islamophobia, often associating Indians with dirt and mud. As an Indian myself, we bathe daily. Those cherry-picked videos do not represent the 1.4 billion people of India. The religion of Islam is often compared to a cult, called barbaric and regressive.
Besides these two groups, Africans face harsh racism due to their skin color. A single incident of a violent black criminal seems to "radicalize" the "far right." What a joke! Racists often call violent crimes by Black people a cultural problem.
Many a times, the labor by documented or undocumented immigrants is exploited by billionaire or capitalist firms, particularly when it is a woman. An illegal female immigrant particularly, would be more anxious, and a scared workforce works better to not get deported. After that, as per many cultures in the global south, she has to take care of the children and family too, not even getting paid for it. the pressure is triple. So behind the "immigrants run the economy", a dark secret lies too. Everything is complicated! That's why we should understand the need of intersectionality. Every type of oppressive structure intersects with one another.
The Myth of More Crimes
The far right eagerly wants you to believe that immigrants are criminals. Let us go through the actual data. Numerous studies in the USA show that immigrants commit far less crime than natives. According to the Texas Department of Public Safety data from 2012 to 2018, US born citizens are more likely to be felons. I know that Donald Trump and his billionaire friends do not want you to use your own brain, but still, just consider yourself as an immigrant to a foreign country who has just escaped crisis. Why would you even want to commit a crime just to be deported back to the area of conflict? You would be more cautious about the country's law, right? In fact, you are more likely going to be a victim of violent crime perpetrated by racists or xenophobes.
Hypothetically, What If All Immigrants Are Deported?
If the unpredictable Donald Trump and other world leaders suddenly plan to deport all immigrants, legal or illegal, under the public pressure, chaos will be created within the immigration departments of the respective countries. Families will be devastated, with women facing the blame in many cultures, and some of the immigrants will be sent back to the conflict zones where they came from. Women will be vulnerable to violence once again. But as per Newton's third law of motion, every action has a reaction. Economies that run on immigrant labor will dwindle and political instability will follow. Mass deportations will ultimately harm your own countries if done mindlessly. So, you simply cannot do that in one day, no matter how much you want the "aliens" to leave.
Why Not Just Come Legally then?
....Really? The legal process takes years, sometimes decades. Who has this much time in the first place? Illegal immigration is not because those people deliberately want to ruin cultures or steal your jobs on a systematic basis. They, I repeat, escape conflict and poverty, often created by your own governments. If you are so concerned about legal immigration, ask your governments to strengthen and diversify the documentation process, or even better, pull their military forces out of other countries and stop funding civil wars across Africa and Middle East. This way, many illegal immigrants will not enter your country either as many simply do not want to leave their place of birth and memories.
Final Thoughts
Back to what I was saying regarding the year 1492 previously. That was the year when Columbus set his foot on the Americas, enslaving native populations and starting the era of colonialism. Europeans further colonized these lands, wiping out cultures and native populations, establishing their own supremacy in foreign lands. So, if you, as a white American, Australian or Canadian, really are against illegal immigration, pack your bags and go back to Europe. Your ancestors are the real illegals here, and you should be thankful to the Native Americans who are still allowing you to stay here despite facing genocide.
Women immigrants today face double oppression: the trauma of leaving conflict zones and the racism and sexism they encounter in their new homes. They are sexually assaulted, economically exploited and culturally vilified. The pink immigration crisis is not about too many immigrants; it is about too little humanity. Until we address the root causes of migration, wars, poverty, climate change, and dismantle the racist systems that dehumanize immigrants, particularly women, this crisis will continue. And the real illegals, those who stole continents and now complain about borders, will keep pretending they have the moral high ground.
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