Humiliated and bundled out

Not just students, even working professionals with valid US visas are bearing the brunt of the tightened immigration checks.

The 36-year-old Varakala Sanjeev was neither going to the USA for the first time nor was found to be doing anything fraudulent, but was interrogated, humiliated and sent back to his hometown, Hyderabad last month.

The SAP developer was working for a celebrity client, MGM Studios in Los Angeles for more than six months before the unexpected happened.

“For close to 12 years, I had worked with top IT companies in Hyderabad and Bengaluru,” said Mr. Sanjeev, “I had applied for H1-B visa and it was approved in the 2015 quota. In March, I flew to United States and by May I got placed. For the next few months, I was working for MGM and settling down in Los Angeles.”

According to Mr. Sanjeev, a decision to come home for a holiday turned his world upside down. He was in Hyderabad for less than a month and decided to return to Los Angeles in mid-December.

“I landed in Los Angeles at around midnight and for the next 12 hours, the immigration authorities grilled me. They kept asking how much bribe I had given to the consultancy. When I said I did no wrong, they refused to believe me and kept asking me the same question.

I was strip-searched, my phone and all my belongings were taken away and I was intimidated by the officials, who said they know how to get the truth out of me. Even if I had to go to a washroom or to drink water, an officer would accompany me.

Finally, they said that the problem was with my employer, who was facing fraud charges, but not me.”

Mr. Sanjeev said that he had requested the authorities to allow him to stay at least for a few months and deal with the issue since his Visa is valid till August 2017.

He was told that his entry was denied after which he was asked to sign a form.

Upon returning, his misery only prolonged at the Hyderabad International airport when the local officials informed him that an attested questionnaire ought to be handed to him by the US authorities, so that it is formally known why he was not allowed.

Finally, he was let off after a couple of hours.

“All my belongings including clothes are there in Los Angeles. I had bought a car there and I am still paying the EMI for it. I am confused on what to do now. I am not sure if I want to spend time, energy and money to find a new employer to go back,” he said.

Shaken by the unpleasant experience, the techie has some questions and suggestions for the US government.

“Why do you give a visa when you know the company or college is fraud? Is it that you want the money of the immigrants, but not immigrants themselves? I along with my employer had paid lots of money towards taxes so should you not return it back? If it’s a political move do not make Indians a scapegoat in it.”