Hyderabad: Telugu students deported from the US continued to arrive on Monday. As many as 32 students arrived at the Hyderabad airport in the last 24 hours.
Most of these students had opted for low profile universities.
The students said that though they gave satisfactory replies regarding their study plans and financial status to US immigration officials, they were sent back saying that there was a problem with some of the universities.
Students and their parents meanwhile directed their anger at the Centre and the AP and TS governments for not taking up the issue with the US government and not coming to their rescue even after students were being sent back without any valid reasons.
An official at the airport said, “There was large scale deportation of students from the US in the first three days, from December 19 to 21, when 30 to 40 students arrived every day. It subsided during Christmas and New Year holidays. But deportation has again picked up and since January 2 around 20 students are arriving daily at the airport on an average.”
Incidentally, more than half of the students being deported had opted for low-profile universities like Silicon Valley University and North Western Polytechnic University.
Despite both these universities repeatedly claiming they were not ‘blacklisted’ by US authorities, students who opted for these universities continue to suffer.
“I was deported from the New York airport. The immigration officials enquired about the university and when I said SVU, they simply shifted me to another terminal and interrogated me for five hours. They told me that I had to go back. When I asked them whether SVU was blacklisted, they said no, but they still cancelled my visa and sent me be back without citing any reason. Despite US immigration officials openly discriminating against Telugu students, neither the Telangana government nor the AP government is taking up the issue with the Centre or the US government. They have not even issued a single public statement on this so far," said K.N. Karunakar.
Defer your US visit, says Overseas education counselors
Overseas education counselors are advising Telugu students opting for US universities to defer their study plans.
They said that almost 70 per cent of the students who had headed to the US with valid visas in the last three weeks have been deported and it would be better to stay back in India for a while till the present situation improved.
“It appears to be an indication on various factors like students applying for non-accredited universities, low-profile universities or their financial credentials,” said Mr Ganesh Valmiki, an education counsellor.
He said most of the students were not carrying enough cash, giving a wrong impression to US immigration officials that they were indeed coming for jobs to earn money and not to study.
"It's better to carry liquid cash of $1500 to $2000 or carry travel cards/credit cards with sufficient funds. Not more than $2,000 should be carried in cash. A copy of statement of purpose, resume and recommendation letters is a must. Many have been revoked entry to the US possibly because of the type of university / institution. They may reapply for the next intake,” he said.
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