Gujaratis in Minneapolis embody American dream that family found frozen to death strove for
CBC
As a young man, Julio Punjani hitched his ambitions to a faraway country he knew little about.
Like other Gujarati-speaking Indians, the most important thing he knew about the United States was the opportunities it held.
Forty years later, he's standing in a crisp black sweater in a gas station he runs just outside Minneapolis. His friend brags that Punjani doesn't let the frigid cold prevent him from hauling and filling propane tanks himself.
He's made it in America.
"[My] dream is that in life, you live healthy and happy," Punjani said, from his gas station in Ham Lake, Minn. "I'm happy health-wise and happy with my life."
The allure of living in the U.S. still drives Gujarati people, originally from the westernmost state in India. It's the motivation that tragically led to the loss of the lives of an entire family on Manitoba's southern border, more than 500 kilometres northwest of Minneapolis.
There were 11 undocumented Indian migrants, fluent in Gujarati, who tried to sneak into Minnesota in bitter conditions last month; four of them — a family, with the youngest only three years old — died trying.
Jagdish Baldevbhai Patel, 39, Vaishaliben Jagdishkumar Patel, 37, and their children, Vihangi Jagdishkumar Patel, 11, and Dharmik Jagdishkumar Patel, 3, died of exposure to extreme weather conditions while trying to walk across the Canada-U.S. border near Emerson, Man., on Jan. 19.
The court case against Steve Shand, who was charged with human smuggling in connection with the treacherous trek, will unfold in Minnesota. Court documents say authorities believe he was involved in three additional recent smuggling events.
The seven other migrants who were with the family who died have been released from custody, but will have to report to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at a later date.
Gujaratis who've built a life in Minnesota say they're shocked by the deaths of the family of four, which exposed the phenomenon of illegal northern border crossings (infrequent compared to crossings at the U.S. border with Mexico).
Many said they'd never heard of Gujaratis trying to sneak into the United States from Canada, especially in wind-whipped whiteout conditions.
"It surprised me. I get so angry about why that thing happened," Punjani said.
His own American story began in 1982, when he worked as a dishwasher.