A word of caution for Indian students as US gets tough with illegal immigrants

Immigration is one of the hot button issues in the US election campaign. Almost every day candidates launch into attacks on abuses at borders and at immigrants scamming the system. For example, Republican front runner Donald Trump's immigration policy is clear. Cheaters overstaying their visas will be dealt with. Trump's policy says, "Individuals who refuse to leave at the time their visa expires should be subject to criminal penalties; this will also help give local jurisdictions the power to hold visa overstays until federal authorities arrive." Trump's opponent, Texas Senator Ted Cruz, is even blunter. His website says as President he will "criminalise visa overstays."

There is not much tolerance these days for foreigners who want to stay in the US illegally. Federal authorities have taken note. This week an elaborate sting set up by the United States government ended when agents arrested 21 people caught after buying into the scam to provide international students with an education "cover" to get visas.

What the Feds did was create a fake university complete with an elaborate web page. But no teaching got done at the so-called University of Northern New Jersey. The New Jersey Attorney-General says it was "operated solely as a storefront location with small offices staffed by federal agents posing as school administrators." For more than two years the "university" lured immigration promoters and recruiters to work with them to fraudulently obtain work authorisation and work visas for hundreds of their clients. Each of the defendants was fooled into thinking that the agents were in on the complicated scam.

A review of complaints filed by the US Justice Department reveals that 8 of the 21 defendants are citizens of India. All have been charged with conspiracy to commit visa fraud. The eight are Avinash Shankar from Bloomington, Illinois, Govardhan Dyavarashetty of Avenel, New Jersey, Karthik Nimmala, Smyrna, Georgia, Narendra Singh Plaha, Hillsborough, New Jersey, Harpreet Sachdeva, Somerset, New Jersey, Sanjeev Sukija, North Brunswick, New Jersey, Jyoti Patel, Franklin Park, New Jersey and Tadeshi Kodali, Edison, New Jersey.

More than 1,000 students, many from China and India, were caught in the scheme. They won't go to trial but now face what the government says will be "removal proceedings". The news release from the New Jersey Attorney-General's office is clear. All the students it states "were willing participants in the scheme." It goes on to allege the students wanted to "fraudulently maintain their non-immigrant status in the US" under false pretences. Many wanted the fake documents to get jobs in the United States.

According to the government the undercover agents were paid thousands of dollars by the defendants to create "sham documents" that used the university's name. The New Jersey Attorney, Paul Fishman, called it a "pay to stay scheme." He said the defendants "recklessly exploited our immigration system for financial gain." In a news conference Fishman said, "the complaints allege that virtually every defendant knowingly purchased fake documents from the undercover university, including fraudulent transcripts with made up classes and grades; diplomas; attendance sheets; student ID cards; sham receipts; and even phony parking passes."

Many countries want to attract talented students from abroad. In the United States there are more than a million foreign students studying at universities and colleges. In the United Kingdom there are more than 400,000 and in Australia more than half a million international students. The high student fees paid by those students are important to financing the growing budgets of universities.

Student visa scams are not new. Most international students require a visa and most, if not all, expire. For example an Australian student/work visa costs $535 and expires 28 days after the course is completed.

The vast majority of these young people are after a better education. They pay the high fees and play by the rules of each country. But a handful would rather work than learn and are willing to pay an immigration expert to find the way to cheat the system.

This week a handful of cheaters were caught. The news coverage around the world will be a caution to those who would rather cheat and "pay to stay" than learn.

(The author is a consultant for Zee Media's upcoming global English news channel WION)