'Asked Him to Keep Head Down': Parents of Indian Students Caught in Campus Turmoil in US Say 'Stakes Too High'

Students rally together during a pro-Palestine protest at the The University of Texas at Austin. (AFP)

Parents of Indian students, who have been caught in the middle of the ‘pro-Palestine’ movement on campuses, are a worried lot as universities in the United States turn into battlegrounds.

Fearing their safety and possible deportation in case they are found involved in the protests, several parents have asked their children to return home to India as classes have moved online.

A Mumbai-based parent, whose daughter was enrolled in University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where the pro-Palestine protests escalated into violence and saw numerous arrests, told News18 that he has asked her to not get involved. “I have requested my daughter to not get involved, no matter how much she supports the cause. Being so far away from home, the stakes and risks are too high,” he said.

Though there have been no reports so far of arrested international students being deported or changes being made to their visa status, both parents and students are wary of taking risks — particularly after a Republican Senator recently advocated that visas of such students should be “revoked”.

Watching the turmoil unfold halfway across the world, another parent of a student enrolled in Columbia University is thinking of asking their daughter to return to India if the situation doesn’t get better.

“With classes and exams going online, I asked my daughter to leave campus for a week and go somewhere safer. If the situation doesn’t de-escalate and classes remain online, I’ll just tell her to come to India early and finish the term from here,” the parent, also based in Mumbai, said.

Columbia University in New York was the first institution that gained widespread media attention after several students were arrested by the local police for protesting.

International students in the US are granted an F-1 visa that is valid only for the duration of their education in the US. Indian parents are worried about the possibility of these visas being revoked if their children are arrested, resulting in them being deported from the US. Moreover, a criminal record, in case of arrest, may hinder their visa renewing application to get an H1B (work visa) to continue working in the US after graduation.

“I have just asked my son to keep his head down and finish off the term quietly. No need to get involved in situations that can compromise his safety,” said the father of an Indian student pursuing an undergraduate course at Emory University.

Another parent whose son is studying on a scholarship at University of North Carolina is worried about the implications of an arrest on cancelled financial aid and subsequent deportation by the college.

A parent from Lucknow, whose son is studying at the University of Chicago, has been disturbed by the violence seen across colleges in the US and has since been taking a daily update on what’s happening on campus to ensure his son was safe.

“The first thing I do every morning is check what happened in the US to make sure the situation hasn’t drastically changed. I never would have expected this to happen in the US, it’s so disheartening.”

With the summer break approaching in most universities — from some time before mid-June for three months or more — parents feel the situation may de-escalate.

“Summer break is coming up. I just hope nothing major happens till then so my daughter can come home soon. Her safety is the most important thing. She wants to get involved and be a part of the protests, but my job is to keep reminding her of the risks and future effects,” said a parent from Delhi whose daughter studies in George Washington University.

Both parents and students News18 spoke to have requested not to be identified.

At present, most encampments have been taken down by the police and student protests are being dispersed. In retaliation, students have begun protesting outside the houses of college trustees while some have planned to stage a walkout at the graduation commencement ceremony.

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