Indian students fear for the worse after US govt revokes visas of overseas students
Fear among Indian students in the US spiked after the President Donald Trump administration started revoking visas of students for participating in protests supporting Palestine, or even liking, sharing or engaging with anti-national posts on social media.
Hyderabad:Fear among Indian students in the US spiked after the President Donald Trump administration started revoking visas of students for participating in protests supporting Palestine, or even liking, sharing or engaging with anti-national posts on social media.
Many overseas students on Saturday received emails from the US department of state (DOS), telling them that their F-1 student visas had been revoked because they had participated in activist programmes on campus, due to which they had to self-deport.
Indian students fear that they could even be deported for engaging with social media posts. A student, living in Indiana, said “Forget participating in protests, even liking or sharing social media posts which might have a pro-Palestine hashtag could get us deported.”
“It is a violation of our rights. How can liking or commenting on social media posts be a threat to the country’s security?” the student added.
R. Srikanth, parent of a Hyderabad-based student currently in Dallas, said, “I am unsure on what I’ve to do to protect my child. If they suddenly decide to revoke the visa, my son’s education plans will be in jeopardy.”
US secretary of state Marco Rubio said that they had cancelled at least 300 visas of foreign students to stop pro-Palestinian protests on university campuses. Speaking about the number of people being sent the email, he said "Maybe more than 300 at this point. We do it every day, every time I find one of these lunatics."
Reports are also being circulated that some Indian students have also received such emails.
The Trump administration backed its actions and stated that they are using the Immigration and Nationality Act, which allows the DOS to deport individuals, who are considered to be a threat to the country’s security.
The US government, after a series of protests at Columbia University, cut $400 million in funding for the university. The government accused it of failing to stop anti-semitism on campus, and warned other universities that they could face similar cuts.
Recently, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal asked Indian students living abroad to follow and comply with local laws.
“When we have foreign nationals coming to India, we expect them to abide by our laws and regulations. Similarly, it is our expectation that when Indian nationals are abroad, they must also comply with local laws and regulations”, he said.
