The recent action of the US government on international students has especially raised concerns among Indian students. According to a report by the American Immigration Counsels Association (AILA), about half of the 327 recent visas revived by the organization has been of Indian students. The Aila Brief, titled ‘The Scope of Immigration Enforcement Action Against International Students’, said that 50 percent of these students were from India, followed by 14 percent from China. Other countries represented in the data include South Korea, Nepal and Bangladesh.
The US State Department and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are screening data of foreign students, including their activism, in the last four months. Some people allege that this screening is used artificial intelligenceWhich can lead to wrong targeting of students without criminal history or links of protest of the premises. In March, State Secretary Marco Rubio announced the “Catch and Rivok” program to identify and screen student visa holders, including the Palestinians and monitoring their social media for evidence of anti-Jewishism or support for Hamas.
Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) is a portal used by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to track international students and exchange programs visitors. According to an ICE release, the visa status of 4,736 international students was abolished in the Sevis system, mostly the F1 visa. Aila described these administrative functions as unprecedented, raising many legal questions may require litigation.
The effect of these visa recurrence is important, with 50 percent of the 327 cases alternative practical training (OPT) holders. OPT F-1 allows international students to work in the US for 12 months on visa. With the cancellation of their visa, these students are now unable to work. The top states affected by these visa revival are Texas, California, New York, Michigan and Arizona.
The Government of India has paid attention to this issue. Foreign Ministry (Mea) spokesman Randhir Jiswal said, “We know that many Indian students have received communication from the US government about their F -1 visa status. We are looking at the matter. Our embassy and consulate are in touch with students.”