San Francisco:
A group of anxious students gather nearly everyday at the Indian Consulate in San Francisco, wondering if they will be deported.
Today, there was an update for them, and it wasn't what they were hoping for. Some of them could face criminal charges.
The students are from Tri-Valley University, a college near San Francisco, that has been shut down by US immigration officials for serving as an illegal entry point for students mainly from India.
The controversy so far has centered on the fact that 18-20 of the students are being made to wear radio-tags on their ankles. India has described this as unnecessary and as adding "insult to the injury." The US has responded that it's not uncommon for those featuring in investigations to be radio-tagged.
But there are weightier issues that now confront the Indians - some of who were reportedly aware that the college they were enrolling at was violating immigration laws. Students attended courses online and often worked illegally in other parts of the US, while showing California addresses on paper.
"Those who are completely exonerated from blame will be able to transfer to other universities or can choose to go back to India, in case they are not able to get transfers...and they can reapply to other universities and they will be treated without prejudice in their second visa application," said Susmita Gongulee Thomas, the Consul General of India in San Francisco.
"But those who have found to be complicit in this case in some way will not be allowed transfers and will not be allowed to go back honorably. The last category ... where they have found somebody that they feel is complicit and they can prove it those will be probably criminally charged," she added.
There were reportedly 1500 Indian students enrolled at Tri-Valley, most of them from Andhra Pradesh.
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) department is expected to release in the next few days a list of the students who deliberately misused their student visa status.
India expects the US to bear in mind that there are students who were deceived by the college - which was listed as an approved university by the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), a part of the Department of Homeland Security. Some of these students arrived at the college just weeks ago, only to find that they had been swindled, and are now waiting for US authorities to decide what happens next to them.