Immigrants fazed by host country's laws

The students waiting outside the Indian consulate in San Francisco came with a mixture of hope and trepidation. Hope, because they thought that as Indians, their country's representatives in the United States would help them find a way out of their predicament after the Tri-Valley University was declared a sham and shut down by the Department of Homeland Security. Trepidation, because after the university's closure they were no longer legal immigrants in the US.

The over 1,500 students affected have no cause for comfort given the varied ways officials have dealt with some of them. Rajshekhara Dasari, for one, was incarcerated in an Ohio prison till he got bail, some others were let off on their on recognisance, and yet others go around in electronic fetters. S

ome of them protest that they were doing nothing illegal--such as working on a student F-1 visa--and being deemed illegal just because of what their university did is unfair to them.

"Look, I wasn't working so I should be allowed to study and stay in the United States of America," said one of them. A group of girls agreed that if the US government permitted them to transfer to another university they would not go back. They feared having to face their parents back home more than the Homeland Security officials. They were already in debt after paying millions of rupees to come over, and bail amounts ranging from $15,000 to $20,000 have added to that burden.

The past two weeks, the Indian Americans--as well as Indians--have been fiercely debating how much the students themselves are to blame. Were they aware of US laws about working on a student visa? Were they not suspicious, among other things, when they were offered 20 percent of their fees for every new student they referred?

American Telugu Association member Babu Gummad pointed out that many students had admitted that they had not been cleared for Curricular Practical Training. Were all these students rich enough to manage without a job?

Valid arguments, but hindsight tends to have its advantages. The question is, how many new immigrants have a complex understanding of their host country's laws?

It is heart rending to see students walking fearfully down the street--or trying to call up some attorney hoping the lawyer can do some magic. But they know the spring semester has already begun and that if anything is to be done it can only be done for that fall semester in distant August. They can only hope that the US government will take some time to put its case together -- and do something for them on humanitarian grounds.

The students' most useful ally could be Prakash Khatri, till 2008 the independent ombudsman of the Citizenship and Immigration Services, who knows the flaws in the system and can help them understand what could appear inconsistent treatment.

Immigration attorney Sheela Murthy is trying to put together a petition seeking to let students transfer to universities the authorities accept as legitimate. Given that most of the Indian students are from Andhra Pradesh, there are also representatives from the Telugu Association of North America and the ATA, such as attorney Raj Akula, trying to find a solution.

Many students have given up and are leaving the country because they fear the US government could hold them for years. They believe that going back to India to clear those mounting debts is a better idea than waiting out the current storm.

Diplomats in Washington, DC, San Francisco, and other places have expressed their disquiet at the way Indian students have been treated like potential fugitives--even criminals--only because of irregularities in the way their university was run. It is not clear how much success they have had in helping Indian students, who are still paying thousands of dollars in bail.

The San Francisco consulate is providing free legal advice but has not yet spoken of enlisting an attorney to help these students, who should be innocent until proven guilty. Besides, the consulate has been advising students not to talk to the media, and telling the media the students are not interested in talking to them.

The officials went out of their way to ensure journalists did not meet students who had come over to the consulate.

Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, who has been proactive in the case, is traveling to the US February 12. She is expected to meet senior diplomats and decide on how to tackle the issue. The student are hoping that along with Ambassador Meera Shankar, Rao's 1973 batchmate in the Indian Foreign Service, the foreign secretary may be able to do something for them.