129 Indian Students Arrested in the US for Visa Scam

Among the 130 foreign students arrested for enrolling at a fake university, 129 are Indians. The Indian embassy and foreign ministry are giving top priority to rescue the 129 Indians, which the US authorities claimed were part of pay and stay university visa scam.

The arrested students and family members can contact the Indian embassy at cons3.washington@mea.gov.in. The Indian embassy has also appointed a nodal officer to handle and coordinate all issues related to helping Indian students affected by the busting of the racket that has put some 600 students under trouble.

Immigration attorneys are of the view that the students are not aware of the university is operating illegally. They also criticised the authorities, as they have claimed that the students are responsible for enrolling themselves in the fake university to maintain their student visa to remain in the US.

The US Department of Homeland Security has carried out an undercover operation recently at the university located in Detroit’s Farmington Hills. After the operation, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested 130 foreign students, including 129 Indians, for immigration fraud.

Khaalid H Walls, an ICE spokesperson speaking to PTI said, “The ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) has administratively arrested 130 foreign nationals enrolled at the University of Farmington for civil immigration violations. Of the 130, 129 were Indian nationals”.

Homeland Security Investigations opened the fake university in order to trap those who are involved in illegal student visa racket. The ICE said foreign students are granted what are called ‘F’ and ‘M’ visas to study in the US and for maintaining their legal status they must enroll themselves in a varsity certified Student and Exchange Visitor Program.

The Farmington varsity did not offer any courses, but the students were using the programme as a way to work. According to Federal investigators, the students who took admission in the university knew that the university programme was illegal. 

Officials said all the 129 students would face deportation. A number of students have been put under some kind of house arrest with a tracking device on their ankle that prohibits them from moving out of a designated area in their neighborhood. The arrest of such a large number of students has created panic among the Indian students.

This is for the first time probably that such a large number of Indian students have been arrested in one go. The number is expected to increase, as ICE officials continue with their nationwide crackdown on Indian students enrolled in this fake university while working at different places.

According to the ICE, in 2017, 249,763 Indian students were enrolled in the various American universities. Students from China topped the list with 481,106 in the year 2017.