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Indian students say new social media scrutiny cost them U.S. visas
Washington Post ^ | 10/3/2025 | Supriya Kumar

Posted on 10/03/2025 6:53:50 AM PDT by marcusmaximus

Four Indian students were rejected for U.S. visas after undergoing a new Trump-era social media screening. All were told they had failed to prove ties to India.

Kaushik Raj felt like his future was falling into place. He’d just won a $100,000 scholarship to pursue a graduate degree in journalism at Columbia University. A U.S. visa was the only thing that stood between him and a new life in New York.

Raj, 27, wasn’t overly concerned. He had completed every stage of the traditional application process. As a last step, he had to allow American authorities to vet his “online presence.”

He wasn’t too active on social media, he said, and refrained from publicizing his personal feelings about hot-button global issues, such as Israel’s war in Gaza. He had, however, spent four years working as a journalist and would post links to his stories, which often focused on hate crimes and were critical of India’s treatment of its Muslim minority.

On Aug. 21, two months after the new social media screening policy was announced by the Trump administration, he received a letter from the U.S. Embassy in New Delhi telling him his application had been rejected. The letter, which he shared with The Washington Post, did not cite his online activity. Instead, it stated he had not demonstrated sufficient ties to India that would “compel” him to return home after his time in the United States.

It came as a shock to Raj, who was born and raised in India and had made clear during the application process that his entire family lives in the country.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


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1 posted on 10/03/2025 6:53:50 AM PDT by marcusmaximus
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To: marcusmaximus

Winning!


2 posted on 10/03/2025 6:56:42 AM PDT by Regulator (It's fraud, Jim)
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To: marcusmaximus

“$100,000 scholarship to pursue a graduate degree in journalism at Columbia University”

The $100,000 can now get reallocated for a more useful cause.

If you want to be a journalist, find out interesting things and write about them.


3 posted on 10/03/2025 6:58:39 AM PDT by Brian Griffin
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To: marcusmaximus

Why is it that the American taxpayers are required to provide “a new life” to every fuddy duddy on the planet? Can’t anyone get a new life in India? Are they short on new lives?


4 posted on 10/03/2025 7:01:40 AM PDT by FlingWingFlyer (The Shumer Shutdown. The first step of Sandy Cortez's grab of Chunky Shoomer's job. LOL!)
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To: All

I read that we have about a million foreign students in America . Really we need a lot less even half that number seems excessive. I’d cut about 100k every year until it got a reasonable amount to give schools the chance to lower their tuitions to appeal to American students instead of getting rich off of foreigners


5 posted on 10/03/2025 7:03:14 AM PDT by escapefromboston (Peace, commerce and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none.)
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To: marcusmaximus

Columbia could use that $100,000 to pay off student loans of struggling US citizen graduates.


6 posted on 10/03/2025 7:05:18 AM PDT by Brian Griffin
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To: marcusmaximus

A Evil Indian job stealing invader At the Compost
whines about the US stopping the invasion of these Future Blood Sucking Demonrats .

Lets Deport this Compost Indian Invader and Demonrat .

Ship all of them back .

we dont need any more imports from that godless hell


7 posted on 10/03/2025 7:07:41 AM PDT by ncalburt ( Gop DC Globalists are the evil. )
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To: marcusmaximus

The world is missing out on a Columbia educated journalist from a third world shithole. That’s the trifecta of what America needs least.


8 posted on 10/03/2025 7:08:05 AM PDT by HYPOCRACY (Wake up, smell the cat food in your bank account. )
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To: escapefromboston

As long as they pay at least what students from affluent American families pay, qualified foreign students that are peaceful should be welcome to do undergraduate study in the USA.

At the graduate level, initiation by foreign citizens of study or research in national defense technology subjects should not be allowed.

There should be at least 50% participation by American citizens in graduate level activities, but I’m not sure that should be required by law at the current time.


9 posted on 10/03/2025 7:08:58 AM PDT by Brian Griffin
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To: marcusmaximus
He’d just won a $100,000 scholarship to pursue a graduate degree in journalism at Columbia University.

What's wrong with this picture?

10 posted on 10/03/2025 7:09:56 AM PDT by Tommy Revolts
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To: FlingWingFlyer

Exactly.

To these students ... I say ... Bew Hew.


11 posted on 10/03/2025 7:10:59 AM PDT by Jane Long (Jesus is Lord!)
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To: marcusmaximus

There way too many Indians in America. They come as students, stay and multiple. It is shocking how many Indians have burrowed into leadership positions in politics, business and academia. They make Somalis look like good.


12 posted on 10/03/2025 7:11:05 AM PDT by DeplorablePaul
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To: marcusmaximus

$100,000 scholarship to an Indian???? Crazy - and it probably originated from government funding in some way.

With available tech, the Feds should be checking everyone traveler’s social media in real time - and stop them at the border/airport and refuse entry if contains anti-American content. Other countries do the same. Well, at least the ones that haven’t been invaded and taken over.


13 posted on 10/03/2025 7:24:43 AM PDT by Battlestar (Tired of transgenders, drug addicts, and mentally ill taking over our streets, schools, government)
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To: marcusmaximus

“”””He’d just won a $100,000 scholarship to pursue a graduate degree in journalism at Columbia University.””””


And we all thought the Indians were needed by the high tech companies because not enough US citizens were available to fill those tech jobs.


14 posted on 10/03/2025 7:26:00 AM PDT by Presbyterian Reporter
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To: marcusmaximus

When I was young, I don’t ever remember meeting anyone from India. I think I was a couple of years into adulthood before I met a single one. Sometimes you would go months without hearing anything about Israel. Anyone suggesting we should be conducting cruise missile attacks inside Russia would’ve been dismissed as a lunatic. Never knew a single tranny, never saw one. The military was lean and aggressive. They didn’t have pussies flying tomcats. Reagan was president later and had good humor and common sense. Food was good, women were hot and friendly, music was awesome, and it was rare to meet a foreigner. The American oligarchs were still mostly contained.

It was a better America.


15 posted on 10/03/2025 7:26:20 AM PDT by DesertRhino (When men on the chessboard, get up and tell you where to go…)
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To: escapefromboston

I’d send them all home immediately.


16 posted on 10/03/2025 7:26:39 AM PDT by grey_whiskers (The opinions are solely those of the author and are subject to change without notice.)
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To: DeplorablePaul

True times 10. In our area there were no Indians ten years ago. Now they have taken over leadership positions in the big tech corporations, taken over ENTIRE towns including the government positions. And their teens walk around in gangs spewing racists rhetoric about the other races.

Their culture is corrupt and at its core rotten (due to their hindu ideaology). India is not are ally anymore. They made their choice to go with BRICS and have been cozzying up to China. So time to cut their lifeline to the USA.


17 posted on 10/03/2025 7:27:14 AM PDT by Battlestar (Tired of transgenders, drug addicts, and mentally ill taking over our streets, schools, government)
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To: marcusmaximus

Excellent! Keep them out.


18 posted on 10/03/2025 7:34:31 AM PDT by FLT-bird
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To: marcusmaximus

OK, but student visas need to be drastically reduced. By statute. With no loopholes.


19 posted on 10/03/2025 7:39:03 AM PDT by Socon-Econ (adi)
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To: marcusmaximus

Dear Indian Student:

You do not dictate what we do in the US. Train in your own country.


20 posted on 10/03/2025 7:39:45 AM PDT by Mlheureux
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