India takes up students' deportation issue with US

The Government of India has taken up this matter with the US Government.

Two educational institutions have denied reports that they have been "blacklisted" by the USA government after some students from India were deported last week, and others not allowed to board their Bay Area-bound flights.

In the meanwhile, the two universities - Silicon Valley University and Northwestern Polytechnic University - said they have been told by the US Customs and Border Protection agency that they have not been blacklisted by the US Government or any of its agencies.

Air India said that those travelling on a student visa and heading to these two California universities were not to be sold tickets.

Air India said the move was meant to prevent the students from being "inconvenienced". "When we asked why the immigration authorities wanted to know such details, they dismissed us outright". The schools said the students got stuck in India due to individual problems at customs.

The national carrier asked its staff to not allow the 19 students to board its flight to San Francisco at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad on Monday night.

The Silicon Valley University denied being blacklisted. "We are closely following up the matter with the aim of resolving it at the earliest".

The Indian newspaper, Times of India reports that A number of Indian students who landed at the Abu Dhabi airport for their USA pre-clearance (immigration) were publicly shamed, locked up like criminals for 16 hours, hit by a volley of irrelevant questions and eventually unceremoniously deported on December 22.

US Consulate officials in Hyderabad said they are trying to get more information on the situation. India is the second-largest country of origin for worldwide students in the USA after China which sends 304,040 students.

"In the past, we have witnessed that students who secured admission in those institutions have been deported to India as soon as they land there".

Almost a million worldwide students are studying at colleges across America.

Customs officials did not immediately comment to the Daily News. The Fremont school offered a further warning: "If you plan to travel by Air India, we suggest that, if possible, you postpone your trip while university officials clear up this issue with Air India".

The students, on the other hand, claimed that their classmates have already reached the university and have not faced any such issue.

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