The Tri-Valley University is accredited only to something called International Association of Bible Colleges and Seminaries and does not have accreditation from any organization for higher education.
Tri-Valley University claims that some programs may apply for professional accreditions — but don’t have them now. It also says that the university has religious exemption under California law to operate.
In view of this, it is commendable that the US government is cracking down on the seminary/Bible school involved in visa fraud, but despicable that the Indian government is opposing the crackdown and supporting those involved in the fraud.
The Tri-Valley University does not have the accreditation of the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, to which genuine California colleges and universities get accredited.
The question, therefore, is are these students Christians or converts to want to study in a seminary? What do they propose to do with their seminary/Bible education? If they are not Christians, what is their interest in studying at a seminary/Bible school? If they claimed they were studying secular subjects, why did they go to a seminary/Bible school and not to a regular university?
The Chennai US consulate’s role is also mysterious because they handed out visas to Tri-Valley University, which has no genuine accreditation for secular education, unless the students declared that they were going there for seminary/Bible education.
S. M. Krishna of the Sonia Gandhi party called the treatment of the students “inhuman.” But in the US it is considered progressive and humane to allow suspects or undertrials to wear the ankle monitors instead of being put in jail. Do Krishna and Sonia Gandhi want people committing fraud left free?
These students are lucky to be given radio cuffs/collars– known here as ankle monitors or ankle bracelets — rather than detained in an immigration service detention center, some of them outsourced to dubious contractors. Many people suspected of visa fraud would be jailed.
In fact, being allowed to wear an ankle monitor is considered a privilege: Lawyers often plead with judges to allow their clients out with ankle monitors instead of being held in jail when bail is refused. Many high-profile people accused and awaiting sentencing get them (and judges get criticized for allowing this rather than jailing them!). And sometimes, they even persuade judges to serve out the sentences at home with ankle monitors.
Bernard Kerik, the Bush Administration nominee to head Homeland Security department — the second-most important job in the cabinet — was among those who wore an ankle monitor pending his final jailing. (He is now in jail serving a four-year term for tax fraud and for lying to officials.)
Hollywood/celebrity business has many on ankle monitors If anything, these students can boast they are like Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton and Tracy Morgan. (It’s affectionately called “leg candy” by some fashionistas and women’s magazines have run articles on how the wearers can make it look fashionable.)
For a bizarre example, there was a Mexican actress arrested in the US for alleged immigration fraud and made to wear an ankle monitor. Her lawyers asked the courts to allow her to remove it because it clashed with her auditions wardrobe!
So why is Krishna calling it inhuman? Is it because a Bible school/seminary is involved?
Visa fraud by people from India posing as students is not all that rare in Australia and the US.
- Tri-Valley University http://trivalleyuniversity.org/about.htm
Filed under: india | Tagged: bible, bible school, california universities, christianity, evangelicals, human rights, indian students, religion, s.m. krishna, seminary, theology, tri-valley university, visa fraud |
BHARATA BHARATI 
I have been search for admission in your reputable university,how can i get your information about entry and admission and document & fees.
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THE INDIAN MEDIA IS TO BE CONDEMNED FOR HIDING THE FACT THAT THIS SCAM WAS A CHRISTIAN MISSIONARY SCAM PERPETRATED IN AP WITH OR WITHOUT THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE STUDENTS INVOLVED.
THE OLD CHARGE THAT THE INDIAN MEDIA IS BIASED TOWARDS MISSIONARIES OPERATING IN INDIA IS CONFIRMED. ALL INDIAN MEDIA WEBSITES CARRY WORLD VISION ADS WHICH IS FURTHER PROOF OF MEDIA CONNIVANCE IN MISSIONARY EXPLOITATION AND CRIME IN THE VILLAGES.
FOR THOSE WHO DON’T KNOW WHAT WORLD VISION IS ABOUT, GO TO https://bharatabharati.wordpress.com/2010/02/02/world-vision-christian-ngo-engaged-in-culture-murder-not-social-service-v-k-shashikumar/ AND FIND OUT.
ACCORDING TO TOI, FEB 7, THE US IMMIGRATION SERVICE WILL RESTORE THE STUDENT VISAS. THIS IS VERY FAIR OF THE US GOVERNMENT CONSIDERING THE CIRCUMSTANCES.
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Times of India, Mumbai, Feb. 3, 2011
US IMMIGRATION MAY RESTORE INDIAN STUDENT VISAS
WASHINGTON: The Indian Embassy in Washington and its consulates across United States will organize free legal camps for students affected by the Tri-Valley University scam even as U.S immigration authorities have promised to use “good judgment and common sense” while handling the issue.
The US assurance came after New Delhi took up the matter strongly through its embassy and consulates here, following which John Morton, Director of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), phoned Indian Ambassador Meera Shankar to provide an update of the situation and the U.S perspective on the developments.
Indian officials who spoke on background acknowledged that the issue of culpability extended could extend to agents and some students, besides the university itself; but they insisted that U.S authorities crossed a threshold by radio tagging some students despite the American explanation that it was standard procedure that circumvented immediate legal requirements (arrest, posting bond etc) and offered free movement with monitoring.
Only 18 students from among hundreds affected by the case, believed to be in egregious violation of visa terms, were radio-tagged after they chose the option ahead of due legal process.
“Efforts are on to ensure that legitimate students are not affected,” an Indian official familiar with the discussions on the matter with U.S administrators said, adding that Indian missions were obliged to help the students given the complex nature of the scam despite the dubious nature of their enterprise.
Some students who spoke to ToI insisted they were innocent because they had valid visas (F-1) issued by American consulates in India on the basis of valid documents furnished by the Tri-Valley University. But the U.S contention is that while the visas issued in good faith may be valid, the students violated the terms of the student visa, which broadly prohibits long-distances online classes and immediate gainful employment.
Many students, 95 per cent from Andhra Pradesh, appear to have opted for TVU only because the so-called university, which even a cursory scrutiny would have revealed was dodgy, found ways to circumvent the rules and allow them to work.
US authorities now appear set to call their bluff. They have indicated to Indian authorities that there will not be a general amnesty for the students, but on a case-by-case basis, excluding egregious violators, some students may be allowed to apply for transfers to other universities. Some others may be allowed to return to India and re-apply for admission and visas without any prejudice. This will weed out the genuine students from those who used short-cuts for employment and immigration.
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Times of India, Mumbai, Feb. 7, 2011
INDIANS ARE SECOND LARGEST ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT COMMUNITY IN US
WASHINGTON: Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Indians are sneaking into the United States across the Mexico border in what American authorities are saying is a sudden and unexpected spike in illegal immigration — from a country half way across the world which is said to be in the throes of an economic boom.
More than 1,600 Indians have been caught since the influx began in early 2010, while an undetermined number, perhaps thousands, are believed to have slipped through undetected, according to US border authorities cited in an account by the Center for Investigative Reporting and published by the Los Angeles Times on Sunday.
The report said Indians are now the largest group of immigrants other than Latin Americans being caught at the Southwest border. The influx reportedly is showing signs of accelerating: About 650 Indians were arrested in southern Texas in the last three months of 2010 alone. The “mysterious and rapidly growing human-smuggling pipelineis backing up court dockets, filling detention centers and triggering investigations,” the report added.
The Indians are said to be flying into Latin American and Central American countries such as Equador, Venezuela and Guatemala via Dubai before arriving on the Mexico-US border, where they cross the Rio Grande River and hole up in US border towns, where they are usually helped by fellow Indians. Mexican organized crime groups are also suspected of being involved either in running the operations or in charging groups tolls to pass through their territory.
According to the report, most of the immigrants, surprisingly, claim to be from the Punjab or Gujarat, two of Indias (relatively) more prosperous states, but also ones associated with enterprise.
Many of them are “Sikhs who say they face religious persecution, or members of the Bharatiya Janata Party who say they are targeted for beatings by members of the National Congress Party,” the report said, while citing experts who maintained that political conditions in India offered no evidence of the kind of persecution that would prompt a mass exodus. The immigration, they said, is clearly driven by economic opportunities.
The spurt in Indian human traffic into the United States, borne out by the Tri-Valley University scam, would also belie the assumption in some quarters about an unprecedented Indian economic boom accompanied by a purported American decline.
The CIR/LA Times account said the trend has caught the attention of anti-terrorism officials “because of the pipeline’s efficiency in delivering to America’s doorstep large numbers of people from a troubled region.” Authorities interview the immigrants, most of whom arrive with no documents, to ensure that people from neighboring Pakistan or Middle Eastern countries are not slipping through.
But there is no evidence that terrorists are using the smuggling pipeline, it cited FBI and Department of Homeland Security officials as saying. Typically, the immigrants are released on their own recognizance or after posting bond.
US officials say the migration is the “most significant” human-smuggling trend being tracked by authorities. In 2009, the Border Patrol arrested only 99 Indians along the entire Southwest border. “It’s a dramatic increase. We do want to monitor these pipelines and shut them down because it is a vulnerability. They could either knowingly or unknowingly smuggle people into the U.S. that pose a national security threat,” Kumar Kibble, deputy director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), was quoted as saying.
The CIR/LA Times report said in January, immigration court calendars at the area’s two main detention facilities were full of the common Indian surnames Patel and Singh, and attorneys and judges struggled to keep up. Some attorneys had failed to file the necessary forms; interpreters were not always available. One judge more immigration judges would soon be assigned to handle the increased workload.
The report said it is not clear how many Indians have been granted asylum or deported; immigration officials did not provide that information. But it said judges and attorneys appear to be toughening up, bond amounts have risen sharply in recent months, and attorneys say asylum claims are increasingly being rejected.
Read more: Huge spike in illegal Indian traffic to US via Mexico – The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Huge-spike-in-illegal-Indian-traffic-to-US-via-Mexico/articleshow/7440241.cms#ixzz1DJdrZv9g
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Indians have been misled by the government and media about this college. Even today the media is not giving the facts that this college is a Bible seminary not a regular university.
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indians are so dumb! tri-valley is a missionary bible college and the students knew where they were going. why are indians making noise about the treatment these cheats are getting from US government?
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[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Sisha, Ishwar Sharan. Ishwar Sharan said: Tri-Valley University is a Bible college! – from Hilda Raja: http://wp.me/pEi6D-1ME […]
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