Scared, drained, demoralised and psychologically affected. That is how the mental state of Indian students caught in the Farmington University sting has been, after they were put in detention centres far from cities, and allegedly in the company of killers and drug traffickers.
The 150-odd students from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh arrested in the fake university racket, allegedly for violating student visa norms, may go into depression if not released immediately or if the government doesn’t initiate a dialogue with the US authorities, says Parmesh Bheemreddy, president of American Telugu Association (ATA).
Last heard, only a few students have been released on bail while 19 have been allowed to leave the States without facing charges. Those who have come out on bail have narrated horrific tales about their stay in the detention centres to ATA representatives, calling it the most fearful experience of their life so far.
‘Worried about girls’
“They never expected such harsh treatment from US authorities and some of them broke down in front of us while sharing details of their stay in detention centres,” a representative of a Telugu association says. “We are worried that several girl students have also faced similar treatment,” he adds
Telugu students have been caught in such situations earlier as well but not given such harsh treatment at that time though the gravity of the ‘crime’ was also almost the same. In 2011 and 2013, when the US authorities raided Tri Valley University and the Herguan University in California with charges of violation of student visa norms and not maintaining required standards. A majority of those caught were also Telugu students.
However, most of those students were doing their first master’s in the USA and had secured admission through consultants or clout of senior students. But in the Farmington University issue, students got admitted for their second master’s to keep alive the Optional Practical Training (OPT) status that allows them to work in the USA in their related fields for 24 months, and also use the Curricular Practical Training (CPT) option in which they can work part-time as part of their course.
‘Data collection must’
The return of a majority of such students is imminent now, says Nishidhar Borra, a consultant. But what needs to be done by the government here is to wake up at least now to collect data of students going abroad. “It is necessary to track them from day one so that they are not cheated by consultants or middlemen in the USA. Even if the government wants to come to their rescue immediately, they need to have the data in hand,” Mr. Borra says.