Washington: US immigration authorities have removed radio tags from the ankles of two Indian students from California-based Tri Valley University (TVU), which has been shut down on charges of massive visa fraud.
"Immigration attorney, Kalpana Peddibhotla had taken two of the students to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and she has been able to obtain the removal of the radio tags from them," Susmita Gongulee Thomas, the Consul General, Indian Consulate San Francisco, told PTI.
Peddibhotla and these students had attended a free legal aid camp organised by the Indian Consulate in San Francisco in association with the South Asian Bar Association.
"She (Peddibhotla) would be taking some more next week and is optimistic that this might have positive outcome as well," Thomas said.
According to a federal complaint filed in a California court in January, the University helped foreign nationals illegally acquire immigration status. The university is said to have 1,555 students. As many as 95 per cent of these
students are Indian nationals, the complaint said.
Investigations by ICE have found that while students were admitted to various residential and on-line courses of the university and on paper lived in California, but in reality they "illegally" worked in various parts of the country as far as Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Texas.
ICE has called it as a "Sham University", a charge denied by the University "ICE has also indicated that those who are willing to talk to them, the authorities are willing to discuss with them all available options for the students to remain lawfully in the United States," Thomas added.
According to available information, 18 students in California were radio-tagged by ICE as part of their investigation against Tri Valley University.
Ankle monitors send a radio frequency signal containing location and other information to a receiver.
Refraining from discussing individual cases, ICE spokeswoman Virginia Kice said if someone is placed in deportation proceedings, they have full access to due process and an opportunity to seek legal relief from removal through
the immigration courts.
"In determining whether individuals will be detained while those proceedings go forward or released under some sort of supervision, ICE carefully considers all aspects of the case, including the person's criminal and immigration history, their ties to the community and whether they represent a flight risk," Kice said.
Tri Valley students have three options: ICE
The US immigration authorities on Wednesday said that the students of California-based Tri Valley University (TVU), which has been shut down on charges of massive visa fraud affecting hundreds of Indians, have three options which includes voluntary departure from the country or file for reinstatement of their visa status.
Students, mostly Indians, have been asked by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to contact it directly for the available option they have.
ICE has posted an advisory on the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) link on ICE's website - http://www.ice.gov/sevis/tri-valley-110118.htm -- to direct students how to contact an SEVP representative to obtain information about their options.
Students who contact SEVP representatives will be advised they have three options, said Virginia Kice, ICE spokesman.
"First: Report to ICE to be processed for voluntary departure from the United States. This option allows them to leave under their own power on a day of their choice, to remain in the United States without fear of being arrested while waiting to depart, and keeps their immigration history clean," Kice said, adding that the second option includes departing the US on their own.
The third and final option for students is "file for reinstatement with US Citizenship and Immigration Services," she said.
"When you call, SEVP will provide you with your options including the option to depart from the United States without an otherwise possibly applicable bar to re-admission in the future," says the advisory issued to the TVU students.
Meanwhile, in another memo to all schools and colleges that uses SEVIS, ICE informed that on January 18, the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) either cancelled or terminated all initial, active and transfer-in student records associated with Tri-Valley University (TVU) in Pleasanton, California.
If a former TVU student applies for acceptance at a school, it is the responsibility of the school/college authorities to obtain an enrollment application and all subsidiary documents typically requested in order to make an admissions decision, including an assessment of the student's finances.
"And they must maintain these documents in the F-1 student's academic record," the memo said.
"If a student gains admission, a designated school official should contact the SEVP Help Desk at 800-892-4829 or [email protected] to manage the student record. Do not initiate a new SEVIS record for the student," it said.
ICE has also informed schools and colleges across the country that the employment authorisation for F-1 students at TVU terminated January 19.
SEVP terminated the records of all F-1 students enrolled at TVU as of January 18, after ICE shut down TVU following an investigation.
According to a federal complaint filed in a California court in January, the University helped foreign nationals illegally acquire immigration status. The university is said to have 1,555 students. As many as 95 per cent of these students are Indian nationals, the complaint said.
Comments
0 comment