Wanted Better Life for Her, Say Parents of Indian Girl Who Died in US Desert While Being Smuggled

The parents of a 6-year-old migrant girl from India who died of heat stroke in an Arizona desert said they sought asylum in the United States because they were “desperate.”

“We wanted a safer and better life for our daughter and we made the extremely difficult decision to seek asylum here in the United States,” said the girl’s mother, Ms. Kaur, 27, and her father, Mr. Singh, 33, in a joint statement released through the US Sikh Coalition that did not give their first names.

“We trust that every parent, regardless of origin, colour or creed, will understand that no mother or father ever puts their child in harm’s way unless they are desperate.”