Drunk driving, shoplifting, speeding: Indian students in US told to self-deport over minor offences

A student who is living in Omaha, Nebraska, working on a contract basis said, 'I am not undermining my mistake, but it is unfortunate that I am being asked to self deport for a minor offence — and that too after so long.'

Indian students facing minor criminal offences, including traffic violations in the US, are now being targeted by the country's authorities.

US authorities have revoked visas of international students including dozens of Indian students who received related mails from their designated school officials.

According to a report by Times of India which quoted the e-mails receieved, the students were informed that their F-1 student visas were no longer valid and were asked to leave the country at once.

The e-mails cited past criminal offences by the students like shifting lanes while driving, drunk driving, shoplifting, etc. as reasons for their deportation.

In the past few weeks, hundreds of international students in the US received e-mails informing them about their visa being revoked and asking them to self-deport.

According to the publication's report, these e-mails read, "The termination of your Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), which is a legal document which stores data of an immigrant and proves their legal status, record means that you no longer have valid F-1 non-immigrant status. This means you are no longer lawfully allowed to stay in the US. Restated, your Form I-20 is no longer valid. Your Employment Authorisation Document (EAD) is no longer valid, and you no longer have authorisation to work."

"If your visa has been revoked, this means that the F-1 visa in your passport is no longer valid. If you are in the US, you may need to make plans for immediate departure," the mail further read.

Though each offence can lead to deportation according to the Department of Homeland Security, US immigration attorneys opined that in the past such offences seldom led to deportation.

According to TOI, Chand Paravathneni an immigration lawyer from Texas said, "Revoking SEVIS for offences like drinking and driving, shifting lanes or over-speeding is extremely rare."

Paravathneni also said, "Some of these cases involve offences like jumping a traffic signal or failing to have a licensed driver in the passenger seat while on a learner's permit. All these are petty crimes and are usually dismissed after following certain formalities. We have hardly seen anyone's SEVIS being revoked due to such crimes in the past."

The lawyer added, "We are checking with students to ascertain if they were involved in anything else apart from the cases they have disclosed to us."

The publication also spoke to some of the Indian students from Hyderabad who asserted that their offences were from a long time back and they had also completed all the necessary legal formalities related to them.

A student who is living in Omaha, Nebraska, working on a contract basis said, "I got a ticket for over-speeding two years ago in New York. I was driving at a little over 80 mph in a 70 mph zone. paid a nominal fine and visited a police station, and that was it. I was never arrested."

"While I am not undermining my mistake, it is unfortunate that I am being asked to self deport for a minor offence — and that too after so long."

According to TOI, another student from Hyderabad who admitted to being arrested for drunk driving and was left shocked after receiving the deportation e-mail said, "I was told not to consume alcohol for a year. An ignition lock was installed in my car, which only starts if I blow into a breathalyser and am sober. I've been regularly giving urine tests to the police, and all have come back clean."

Another Indian student was arrested for shoplifting said, "I forgot to scan items worth $144 at Walmart in Delta, Texas in July 2023. But they gave me a warning and the case was dismissed within a month on the grounds of my good academic performances and because it was my first offence. I followed all instructions and completed all the formalities. Why am I being punished again?"