Around 129 Indian students are among those 130 foreign students who have been detained in the United States for enrolling at a fake university, were “aware” that they were committing a crime in order to remain in the US, the US state department has said days after India issued actions against the American embassy in New Delhi.
The ICE has administratively arrested 130 foreign nationals last week by the US department of homeland security who enrolled at the University of Farmington for civil immigration violations. Of the 130, 129 were Indian nationals. The fake university was settled by the DHS’s probing unit to bus the “pay-and-safe” racket in Greater Detroit.
In a statement released on Monday, a state department spokesperson said: “All participants in this scheme knew that the University of Farmington had no instructors or classes (neither online nor in-person) and were aware they were committing a crime in an attempt to fraudulently remain in the United States.”
The response has come after India issued a demarche to the US embassy on Saturday in New Delhi, pointing out its concern over the arrest of Indian students and further sought immediate consular access to detainees, according to TOI news reports.
The external affair ministry has said it was closely monitoring the situation of the mass detention by Washington. 8 of those who ran this racket have been now arrested.
The fake university, with ran no classes with a low tuition fee, which provides work permits on the very first time of enrolling of the students has about 600 students. Though, the actual figure who has been detained is much higher.
“More than a million international students’ study at US institutions each year, including approximately 196,000 Indian students last year. Instances of fraud schemes are rare, unfortunate aberrations in the proud history of educational exchange between the United States and India,” the State Department said.
It said that the US government fully supports international educations and also committed to facilitating them to travel, and said, “International students are a valuable asset to our universities and our economy and enrich our communities through sharing their diverse perspectives, skills, and experiences.”
“It is unfortunate that some student recruiters and individuals seek to use the international student programme to foster illegal immigration status in the United States,” the State Department said.
Also read: https://theindianwire.com/world/indian-embassy-hotline-number-detained-student-us-98734/