Hyderabad: The eight Telugu-speaking Indians who were charged by the US Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) pleaded “not guilty” when produced for the first time before a federal court in Michigan.
They have been charged with aiding hundreds of students to stay illegally in the US by enrolling in a fake university.
One of the eight recruiters Phanideep Karnati, 35, secured bail because he had a valid H-1B visa.
Mr Karnati entered the US 10 years ago and had a good track record. He lived in Louisville, Kentucky and was released on a bond of $10,000.
While the seven others, Barath Kakireddy of Florida, Suresh Kandala of Virginia, Prem Rampeesa of North Carolina, Santosh Sama of California, Avinash Thakkallapally of Pennsylvania, Aswanth Nune of Georgia and Naveen Prathipati of Texas, continue to be in custody.
Three Telugu students who were detained in Indianapolis — two from AP and one from TS — and lodged at the detention centre in Detroit, secured bail on a bond of $25,000. The bond money was sponsored by their families, friends and Telugu community leaders. Others have also applied for bail.
According to reports, the US ICE has taken away the passports of 130 detained students. Voluminous documents and mobile phones of the eight recruiters charged by ICE have been confiscated.
The eight have been charged with aiding hundreds of students to stay illegally in the US by enrolling in a fake university.
Sreedhar Nagi Reddy, a US citizen associated with ATA, Telangana Development Forum told Deccan Chronicle, “There are two options for the students who have been detained. One is to secure bail and voluntarily move out of the country after getting clearance from the immigration judge. Each state where the students have been detained has different rules and the bail cost ranges from USD 1500 to 25,000. Second is to stay in the US, hire an attorney and fight the case. Those opting for bail should have US citizen or green card holder as their guarantor.”
Sources told this newspaper that those detained cried when members of the Telugu community visited them as they are sharing the detention centres with murderers, drug addicts/peddlers and other criminals. The American Telugu community has extended help to 22 detained in Atlanta, seven in Texas, four in Virginia, and eight each in Detroit and Florida.
The Telugu community in the US plans to hold a meeting with the Indian Embassy and students who have been released on bail.
