Hundreds Of Indian Students In US Face Deportation

Mtoday news

Washington, Jan 27:  The US expressed concern over any activity involving visa fraud, as several Indian students of a California-based University shut down by authorities on charges of illegal immigration were interrogated.

Duped by the authorities of Tri-Valley University, which has now been shut down, hundreds of Indian students, mostly from Andhra Pradesh, faced the threat of being deported back home after having lost their student visa status.

 

 

"Any activity involving visa fraud would obviously be of great concern to us. The investigation of that is done by law enforcement, obviously with our cooperation, since we are the ones who issue visas," State Department spokesman P J Crowley told reporters at his daily news conference.

 

According to a federal complaint filed in a California court last week, the University helped foreign nationals illegally acquire immigration status.

The university is said to have 1,555 students. As many as 95 per cent of these students are Indian nationals, the complaint said. The students are reported to have paid lakhs of rupees for obtaining a visa for their category and also for students work permit.

"Since 9/11, one of the areas that we as a government have strengthened is the tracking, so that if you come here on a student visa, you have to check in and you have to go to school. That is a requirement of that programme," Crowley said.

 

Meanwhile, reports from the San Francisco area said a number of students have been interrogated by federal authorities as part of their investigation against theTri-Valley University, which is being charged of part of an effort to defraud, misuse visa permits, and indulge in money laundering and other crimes.