New Delhi: Indian scholars in the US are on high alert after Badar Khan Suri, a postdoctoral fellow at Georgetown University, was detained outside his home on 19 March after his student visa was revoked.
Suri was actively spreading Hamas propaganda and promoting antisemitism on social media, Tricia McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the US Department of Homeland Security, posted on ‘X’. “Suri has close connections to a known or suspected terrorist, who is a senior advisor to Hamas,” she added.
Just a week ago, Indian doctoral student Ranjani Srinivasan found herself in an immigration spotlight after her student visa was cancelled over allegedly participating in pro-Palestine protests on Columbia University’s campus in New York City. After the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) came knocking on her door, Srinivasan decided to leave the US on her own terms—a move that headlines have described as ‘self-deporting.’
On the face of it, her visa being revoked seems random. But it has led to fear amongst Indian students in the US. The Donald Trump administration announced that it would be revoking the visas of international students and scholars deemed to be supporters of Hamas or the attack against Israel launched in October, 2023. It’s as yet unclear who may be directly impacted.
And with Suri’s arrest, the threat is intensifying. In his petition for release, his lawyer argued that Suri is being punished because of his wife’s Palestinian heritage, even though she’s a US citizen. He’s also alleged to have ties with Hamas through his father, Ahmed Yousef, who Hindustan Times reported in 2018 served as a “senior political adviser to the Hamas leadership.”
The recent experiences of Suri, Srinivasan and Mahmoud Khalil—a Columbia student from
Palestinian descent—has only added another layer of fear to the already uncertain atmosphere surrounding visa status in the US. All three are caught in Trump’s crackdown on pro-Palestinian demonstrations, using their immigration status as leverage.
Suri, Srinivasan and Khalil are examples of legal immigrants—a PhD from Jamia Millia Islamia teaching a course on ‘Majoritarianism and Minority Rights in South Asia,’ another a Fulbright scholar enrolled in an Ivy League university on a student visa, the third a graduate of the same university who has a green card and status as a permanent resident—whose legal statuses were revoked by the Trump government.
And now, Indian students at some of the most prestigious American institutions are under duress. Many are deleting and ‘unliking’ social media posts in support of Gaza over fears that they’ll be seen as anti-Zionist. Many more are fielding calls from concerned parents, worried about how their politics are being perceived.
Concerned university professors have advised their graduate students not to travel, in case their visa is revoked and they’re detained. Ivy League universities are sending emails to the entire student body advising students to be careful with travel and update their emergency contacts to include at least one person based in the US. WhatsApp group chats used to plan meet-ups and organise gatherings have gone silent. The only time they come alive is to alert others to police or ICE presence on campuses.
“It just makes me anxious. There’s really nothing else to say,” said one Ivy League graduate student enrolled in a PhD programme, adding that there’s also no institutional layer of support to prevent visas from being arbitrarily—even the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) cannot help at such a moment.
Some students point to how the US government has now further weaponised immigration status. Many are still waiting to understand the scale of the situation.
“I think that at one point you have to agree with the US government that a visa is a privilege and not a right and they’re using that distinction to be able to further their agenda,” Sudhanshu Kaushik, founder of the North American Association of Indian Students (NAAIS) told ThePrint. “Even though there are many students who benefit off of the visa, as the administration would argue, I urge the government to look at the benefit from these student visa holders that study in the US. Why would you want to weaponize something that stimulates your local to the national economy?”
The backlash towards pro-Palestine protests at Columbia University were particularly harsh, with degrees of protesters being revoked and students being expelled or suspended for multiple years. More recently, the Trump administration cut $400 million in funding for grants and research projects at Columbia—and have threatened to pull funding from other universities for “illegal protests.” On 19 March, the University of Pennsylvania was also hit by a funding cut of $175 million.
“We have no option but to wait and watch what happens,” said one Indian student enrolled at Columbia University.
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Safety blanket gone
The atmosphere of fear amongst Indian university students in the US is rooted in uncertainty. And visas play a huge role: the American dream drives most Indian students to relentlessly pursue visa opportunities upon graduation, whether on Optional Practical Training (OPT)— which allows for temporary employment right after graduation on the student F-1 visa—or, joining the H1B lottery.
Some Indian students recently said that “officers in uniform” have begun checking their IDs and work authorisation documents at their workplace. The fear of visas being suddenly revoked without a clear explanation is only adding another layer of fear.
Many students who spoke to ThePrint recalled the panic of the coronavirus pandemic, when there was chaos and confusion as thousands left the country when universities began to shut down. But then, they say, there was support from both the government and universities’ international student offices to guide them through this process.
No such safety blanket is there today. What’s more is that there’s been a decline in F-1 student visas granted to Indian students: 64,008 students were granted visas from January to September 2024, compared to 1,03,495 during the same period in 2023, according to the US State Department records.
“I feel like it’s very reflective of American politics today anyway—there’s been too much happening to keep up with, and I feel it’s just unfortunate timing to be an Indian pursuing opportunities in the US. The numbers already work against us, we don’t know what else we have to factor in now,” said the Columbia university student, referring to the demographic disadvantage of being Indian, with so many Indians jostling for a limited number of visas.
Another student said that university campuses are supposed to be an insulated space—a “microcosm” in which students not only learn but also gain exposure to different cultures. “That’s one of the reasons to attend university abroad, right? To interact with the world and develop our senses of self?”
If participating in a campus protest—which Srinivasan denies—is an impetus to cancel visas, then it only further encourages Indian students to keep their head down and not access what international education offers, said the student. They have already received a call from their parents, advising them to stay out of trouble and focus on studies.
“What I do believe is that this is not making the already stressful lives of international students any easier,” said Kaushik.
Course-correcting
Just a few weeks earlier, Indian students were concerned about their visa opportunities after graduation, especially amid the H-1B backlash. Since Trump took office in January, Indian students say anti-immigration sentiments have massively risen—especially as Indians are often seen as the poster child of the “immigrant taking high-paying jobs from Americans”.
The visa process is already complicated and obtuse, and the rapid rate of change of immigration policies is only making it harder to cut through the noise.
Nevertheless, Indian students are taking precautions to avoid showing up on lists like the Canary Mission, which “documents people and groups that promote hatred of the USA, Israel and Jews on North American college campuses”. One Indian student went through their list of likes and bookmarks on social media platform ‘X’, to check if they had liked anything that could be considered incendiary. Others are keeping an anxious watch on all such vigilante lists.
“It’s scary, and there’s an overwhelming feeling of helplessness,” said the PhD student enrolled at an Ivy League university. “It’s not a productive atmosphere for scholarship at all.”
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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seem to be a right thing to do. you go to a country as a guest, then you go protest on campus and disturb fellow students. or go online and spread trouble ideology. Even India will deport people like this from their country. No one want trouble makers.
Mr. Khan Suri has been an ardent champion of Hamas and other such Jihadi terrorist outfits. His course on “Majoritarianism and Minority Rights in South Asia” at Georgetown University is just a laundry list of how the Muslims have “suffered” due to Hindu majoritarianism in India. He cloaks the atrocious violence that Hindus and other non-Muslims are subjected to in Pakistan and Bangladesh. The only objective is to paint Hindus as devils and Muslims as saints.
And he is not the only one. Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) and Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) have scores of such alumni in educational institutions across the West where these folks engage in a concerted disinformation campaign against India and Hindus.
Kudos to President Trump for exposing the ugly face of these hypocrites. Hope he deports every single one of them to India.