Karnal man who took ‘donkey’ route to US now helps Haryana migrants
Ten years ago, Tajinder alias Teji Mann, a resident of Ghogripur village in the district, was just another desperate youth from rural Haryana, willing to risk everything for a shot at a better life.
Today, at 43, he has not only rebuilt his life in the United States, but has become a beacon of hope for scores of Indian immigrants without legal documents, offering them shelter, food and legal support he once lacked.
Over the years, Mann estimates he has helped more than 500 people—many from Haryana, Punjab and nearby states—find their footing in the US. He helps them in providing shelter, getting jobs, beginning legal processes for residency and others.
His efforts are drawing attention from people across various states who think of him as a bridge between immigrants without papers and support systems that often overlook them.
Congress leader and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi also met him in Texas on September 8, 2024, and appreciated his efforts. Gandhi also came to his village on September 20, 2024 and met his family members and others from nearby villages who had taken the “donkey route” to go abroad.
Mann, a diploma holder in production engineering from Nilokheri Polytechnic, had only one acre and no major job opportunity. His family spent Rs 21 lakh to send him abroad, hoping for a better future.
Mann started his journey to the US on January 26, 2015, via the infamous “donkey route"— an unsafe and illegal route taken by thousands who seek to enter the US without proper documentation.
After around two months of harsh, uncertain travel, 42 days in a US detention centre and an arrival on a foreign land with no job, no contacts and not even a ‘chapati’ to eat. “Those were the hardest days of my life. I did not know anyone, did not have a roof…and the fear of deportation was constant," he recalls.
For two years, Mann survived by sleeping inside a metal container parked in truck yards and working minimum wage jobs — first at a store in California’s Sodabay, then as a milkman and night dispatcher in Petaluma. He worked tirelessly, 16-18 hours a day, until he could finally stand on his own feet.
In April 2017, he moved to Los Angeles and bought a truck, setting up his own transport company by 2018. But Mann’s success did not make him forget his roots—or the journey that nearly broke him.
Today, Mann is a permanent US resident and a helping hand to others who arrive there the way he did.
Alongside his childhood friend and co-villager Rakesh Mann alias Bunty, he offers temporary shelter, food and guidance to migrants from Haryana and neighbouring states in the foreign land.
Together, the duo pays the rent for an apartment dedicated to hosting new arrivals from Haryana and nearby states. “Earlier, we had a two-room apartment where we sheltered these youths. Later, we purchased our own residence, but it still was not enough. So, we rented another flat. We know the pain—they are not strangers to us,” Tejinder added.
“We do not encourage illegal immigration, but once someone has reached the US scared, hungry and alone, we cannot look away. We know exactly how that feels,” he maintained.
Haryana Tribune