HYDERABAD: Deportation of Indian students from the US continued through the first two days of the New Year with some estimating that as many as 30 students from Hyderabad were sent back in the last 48 hours.

The ports of deportation included New York, San Francisco and Seattle. A bunch of students who allegedly failed to clear immigration at Los Angeles too were given marching orders.

Most of these students, it appears, where headed for the two California-based universities that are currently caught in controversy – Silicon Valley University (SVU) and Northwestern Polytechnic University (NPU). Both the institutions maintain that they have been given the clean chit by the US authorities (the US Department of Homeland Security) who have confirmed that they are not “blacklisted” – as was alleged by some airline operators.

Students are completely in the dark about just what the problem is. Indian authorities, they claim, have done little so far. “Apart from saying that they are looking into the matter, the external affairs ministry has done nothing else. I have no doubt that this crisis will be resolved only when the two governments start a dialogue and accordingly take appropriate measures. But I, sadly, do not see that happening. The two countries should realize that they have jeopardized the careers of hundreds of students like me,” said a SVU-bound student who was deported to Hyderabad late last month.

The student, fed-up, is now planning to apply to universities in Australia or Singapore to take his career forward. “I am also mulling taking up a job for some time and get back to studying at a later stage,” he added.

Apart from ruing misbehaviour by immigration officials at the ports of entry in the US, some deported students also alleged unnecessary questioning– often about their “contacts” living in the US. “The officers were more interested in finding out the students’ friends and family there. I think, it is part of their new plan to deport immigrants living in the US illegally,” said Imran M, referring to recent news reports about massive deportation drives being taken up by the US Department of Homeland Security.Such is the fear that students with acquaintances in the US are now being advised to delete the names of those people from their mobile phones before they touch down on American soil. “I actually cleared by contact list because my friends there had asked me to do so. So when the immigration officials asked me where I would stay once in the city, I had to tell him that I would live in a motel until the university reopened on January 4. Perhaps that is why I was sent back,” said another student, completely heartbroken on his American dreams being shattered.

The continuous flow of deportees, meanwhile, has forced many students in the city to drop their plans of travelling to the US, at least for the time being. “I was slated to fly out on December 27. But now I have cancelled my plans. I will finalise my dates only after this problem is resolved,” said Mohammad Mazhar, ruing how he’ll now need to get a fresh I-20 from the university before he can set sail again. He, of course, continues to nurture the dream of getting a degree from a US university.

So does Ashraf who couldn’t get past immigration to join NPU. He is now in the process of mobilizing other students, stuck in a similar situation, so that together they can table their concern before the state and central administration and hope for some help to come forth.

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