US fortress looms large on Indian students
Viewed together, the recent cases of Indian students being barred entry into the US and the Obama Administration’s decision to hike visa fees for skilled professionals, have left a bad taste in the mouth. People-to-people ties, forged by Indian students and young professionals in the US, lie at the core of bilateral relations. Both countries need to ensure that this aspect is not dampened. In the first case of at least three groups of students being prohibited entry into the US, the full facts are yet to emerge, but it is clear that the students were detained for long hours and unnecessarily harassed during interrogation. The students said that they were asked irrelevant questions, made to sign documents with false information, and not even allowed food and water during the time they were holed up.
Also, Indian consular officers, who had gone to San Francisco airport to meet the Indian students, were reportedly not allowed to step in. While US authorities are within their rights to screen individuals coming to their country and refuse entry to those who do not meet their regulations, there can be no justification for such harassment. Even if one assumes that the students were not able to answer questions asked by immigration officials or, worse still, were travelling to the US with improper documentation or mala fide intention, there is still no reason for them to be treated in the manner they were.
Moreover, the sheer number of Indian students who have got into trouble in recent weeks calls for a review of the system. Airport checks are the last line of verification; they come after several layers of scrutiny, undertaken at the time of visa application and approval. For international students going to the US, even the universities that are admitting them are expected to verify credentials before issuing the crucial I-20 document, without which applications for the F1 student visa are not entertained.
If so many students were able to get past these checks and balances, then surely there is something wrong with the system. Then, there is the issue of duplicitous institutions conning unsuspecting students or even collaborating with those who abuse their student visa to illegally live and work in the US. Here again, while prospective students are expected to do due diligence, US authorities also must get their affairs in order before pointing fingers at others.
After all, while thousands of Indians travel to the US every year to partake in the American Dream, the US stands on the back of immigrant labour and skills. Taking an unnecessarily hostile approach towards Indians who form the US's most successful minority community today, isn't smart policy. It is also in this context that the Obama Administration's decision to double the fees for H1-B work visas must be considered. Irrespective of how badly it will hit the Indian IT industry, it indicates the worrying rise of an American fortress, akin to the ones Europe and Japan have built, that’ll be impenetrable by outsiders.