From Overspeeding to Shoplifting: Minor Offences Leading to Deportation of Indian Students in the US

From Overspeeding to Shoplifting: Traffic violations anymore minor, accidentally shoplifted things-across-the-board forms fresh charges against the US authorities to tip the new international students out. This comes slightly into those Indian and other international students who have actually been rendered destitute from the pro-Palestinian campus activism of the last few months.

Those students whose entry visas have been revoked have been issued action orders by the Department of Homeland Security to leave the country immediately, which is against the norm since students are usually allowed to remain and complete their studies before being released.

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Miriam Feldblum, the president and CEO of the Presidents' Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, said some students targeted in the past few weeks have had no clear link to political activism, according to an Associated Press report. Some have been told to leave over misdemeanor offenses or traffic infractions, she added.

Deportation of Indian students in the U.S. continues as many of them received emails last week from their designated school officials (DSOs) informing that their F-1 student visas are no more valid and they have to leave the country immediately.

Immigration attorneys reportedly said students lose visas for things as trivial as a post on social media.

The email told students that if their visa had been revoked, then it meant that the F-1 visa in their passport was also not valid. "If you are in the US, you may need to make plans for immediate departure," it added.

In India, latest such email was sent to students across universities in Missouri, Texas, Nebraska, and some other states.

Some offences can lead to deportation, but these little infractions have never led to such consequences, lawyers at the US immigration courts say.

An immigration attorney from Texas, Chand Paravathneni, is now working on about 30 such cases and reportedly said that, "Revoking SEVIS (Student and Exchange Visitor Information System) for offences like drinking and driving, shifting lanes or over-speeding is extremely rare."

He noted how some of the cases that he is dealing with also involves infractions such as jumping a traffic signal or not having a licensed driver in the passenger seat while having a learner's permit. Paravathneni noted how in the past such petty crimes hardly led to such consequences.

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Speeding tickets to shoplifting: old cases, fresh targets

Several students are claiming that the offences over which they are being targeted are months or even years old, that too settled ones. A student, currently put up in Nebraska's Omaha, told TOI that he had gotten an over-speeding ticket two years ago in New York and the fine for that was also paid, the police station visit was also made. "I was never arrested," the student said.

He, who has completed his master's from Boston, said that while he regrets the mistake made, "it is unfortunate that I am being asked to self deport for a minor offence, and that too after so long."

Another student from Hyderabad in Missouri confessed to being charged for drink driving. He told TOI that he was ordered not to drink for a year and had an ignition lock put on his car to show compliance, This way the car would "only start if I blow into a breathalyser and am sober."

"I have been regularly giving urine tests to the police, and all have come back clean," the student said, adding that he is shook by the deportation email. He is now in the final year of master's in Information Technology.

Another student from India was recalling an incident in July 2023 when he forgot to scan items worth $144 at Walmart in Delta, and because of that, he was arrested for shoplifting. This student goes on to inform the media outlet that later, he was warned and the case got dismissed within a month because of good academic performance and being a first-time offender. "I followed all instruction, and completed all the formalities. Why am I being punished?" he asked.

Such conditions of deportation and targeting over trifles continue to create concern in university authorities that this sort of use would dissuade international students from choosing to pursue education in the United States.

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