129 Indians were detained in the United States for enrolling themselves to a fake university. Students were aware of committing the crime, and fraudulently staying in the United States says US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) .
Last week the DHS arrested 130 foreign students, it included 129 Indians. The fake university was set up in 2015 to lure foreign nationals to stay in the US illegally.
The State Department issued a statement -“All participants in this scheme knew that the University of Farmington had no instructors or classes (neither on-line nor in-person) and were aware they were committing a crime in an attempt to fraudulently remain in the United States,”
India expressed concern over the detention of Indian students and sought immediate consular access to them. The External Affairs Ministry in India said they are closely monitoring the situation arising out of the mass detention.
The fake university had no classes, a low tuition fee, and had given work permits on the very first of the enrolments of the students. It had some 600 students and a majority of whom are Indians.
Many Indians who were arrested were let off after being radio tagged. The Indian Embassy was sending legal help through community leaders. Also the Indian embassy opened a 24/7 hotline to assist these 129 Indian students.
(The Pigeon Express – The United States since the takeover of President Trump has made Visa rules stricter. So it’s natural for people to finds alternatives, the wrong alternatives. The question here is how many among the 600 who enrolled knew that the university was fake? or if foreign nationals were tricked?)