US offers helpline to Indians after closure of ‘sham varsity’

The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have established a helpline for the Indian students affected by the closure of Tri Valley University in California after an immigration scam.

"We have set up an email address and voicemail that Tri-Valley students can use to contact ICE Homeland Security Investigations directly with their questions," Lari K Haley, ICE spokeswoman said. Affected students can call the US number 415-844-5320 and leave a voice message. An ICE representative will return the call, she said, adding that the students can also write to 'SFRHSIFraud@dhs.gov'.

Hundreds of Indian students, mostly from Andhra Pradesh, face the threat of being deported back home after having lost their student visa status. According to a federal complaint filed in a California court last week, the University helped foreign nationals illegally acquire immigration status.

The university is said to have 1,555 students. As many as 95 per cent of these students are Indian nationals, the complaint said.

Investigations by ICE found that while students were admitted to various residential and on-line courses of the university and on paper lived in California, in reality they "illegally" worked in various parts of the country as far as Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Texas.

ICE has called it a "sham university"
Early on Friday, Eastern standard time, frantic students rushed to immigration lawyers, Indian-American associations, US consulate officials -anybody at all who might offer help or advice. When a reporter caught up with him very early in the day, Hari was taking the bus to a lawyer.