The hopes of many Indian students seeking higher education in the United States have been shattered after immigration authorities began taking a harsh stance towards Indian students. Another batch of Indian students was deported on Friday, with the students claiming that their US visas were cancelled without verification of their student records and without clarification being sought. The students were forced to return home straight away.
Most surprising is that many of the students who were deported have already been studying at various universities within the United States and were returning after spending their Christmas holidays at home. One student, Abhilash from Hyderabad, said he was not even questioned; another, Sai Kiran, said immigration authorities saw a photograph he took in a Hyderabad hotel as evidence that he had worked illegally in an American restaurant and immediately cancelled his visa, forcing him to return home without being given the chance to speak to Indian embassy officials.
With their US visas now cancelled, the students’ future is hanging in the balance, including nine who were due to begin studying at the University of New Haven on Wednesday. The immigration office at Rajiv Ghandi International Airport (RGIA) says that employees, businessmen and tourists from India were also deported from the US over the weekend.
The deported students also claim that they were forced to sign a bond declaring their willingness to pay for their own return tickets, with some students paying as they boarded the plane.