According to news reports, close to 150 students travelling to the US to join universities in California have been sent back over the past few months.
On December 22, students headed to the US returned from Abu Dhabi, where they were locked up for over 16 hours during their pre-clearance (immigration) interviews. One of them was Amaresh Jana, who has shared his experience on Facebook. "They checked my WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, photo gallery, Gmail and bank accounts, and then after 16 hours of questioning, told me my visa was cancelled," shares Jana.
Fifty-four students were deported within 24 hours of Christmas Eve from 11 universities. A majority of these students were headed to the Silicon Valley University at San Jose and Northwestern Polytechnic University at Fremont.
As batches of students complaining of ill-treatment started coming in, the Ministry of External Affairs was quick to issue an advisory on December 23. Students seeking admission to the Silicon Valley University and Northwestern Polytechnic University were advised to "defer their travel to the US".
Before that, Air India, acting on a tip-off from the US Customs and Border Protection Agency, stopped about 15 students from boarding a flight to the US - they were headed to the two universities.
While some were still hailing Air India as a good Samaritan for saving students from the trouble that awaited them at US immigration check points, the two universities started to hit back. Both are on the list of institutions approved for the Department of Homeland Security's Student and Exchange Visitor Programme.
09/01/16 Nikita Puri/Business Standard
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On December 22, students headed to the US returned from Abu Dhabi, where they were locked up for over 16 hours during their pre-clearance (immigration) interviews. One of them was Amaresh Jana, who has shared his experience on Facebook. "They checked my WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, photo gallery, Gmail and bank accounts, and then after 16 hours of questioning, told me my visa was cancelled," shares Jana.
Fifty-four students were deported within 24 hours of Christmas Eve from 11 universities. A majority of these students were headed to the Silicon Valley University at San Jose and Northwestern Polytechnic University at Fremont.
As batches of students complaining of ill-treatment started coming in, the Ministry of External Affairs was quick to issue an advisory on December 23. Students seeking admission to the Silicon Valley University and Northwestern Polytechnic University were advised to "defer their travel to the US".
Before that, Air India, acting on a tip-off from the US Customs and Border Protection Agency, stopped about 15 students from boarding a flight to the US - they were headed to the two universities.
While some were still hailing Air India as a good Samaritan for saving students from the trouble that awaited them at US immigration check points, the two universities started to hit back. Both are on the list of institutions approved for the Department of Homeland Security's Student and Exchange Visitor Programme.
09/01/16 Nikita Puri/Business Standard
