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Indian
students of sham US varsity face deportation
Hundreds of Indian students, mostly
from Andhra Pradesh, face the prospect of being deported from the
US after a "sham" university in California was shut down for
allegedly selling US visa to
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New Delhi: External
Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna Thursday said India has sought a
report from its missions in the US over the fate of Indian
students after authorities closed down a California-based
university on charges of "visa fraud" and illegal immigration.
"We have asked for a report from our embassy and from our
consulate general and when a report is issued, we will be taking
it up with the government of the US," Krishna told reporters here.
He added that the missions have been instructed also to look into
the welfare of Indian students affected by the closure of the
Tri-Valley University. The minister, however, expressed surprise,
saying it was "strange" that the affected students have not
approached the Indian consulate so far.
Hundreds of Indian students, mostly from Andhra Pradesh, face the
prospect of being deported from the US after the university in
California, declared 'sham', was shut down for allegedly selling
US visa to willing students.
The Tri-Valley University in Pleasanton, a suburb in San Francisco
Bay Area, was raided Tuesday and charged with helping foreign
nationals illegally acquire immigration status, according to local
media reports.
A complaint filed by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement
(ICE) against the 'sham' university alleged that its founder and
president Susan Xiao-Ping Su was using the school to issue a US
visa to any foreign national willing to pay for it.
The immigration investigation began in May 2010, after it was
noticed that the school applied for an excessive number of US
student visas when compared to the previous year. The university
is said to have 1,555 students, of which 95 percent are Indian
nationals, the complaint said.
The US has expressed concern over the incident. "Any activity
involving visa fraud would obviously be of great concern to us.
The investigation of that is done by law enforcement, obviously
with our cooperation, since we are the ones who issue visas,"
State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters in
Washington.
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