NEWSLINKS
US EDITION
COLUMNISTS
DIARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ELECTION 99
ELECTIONS
ARCHIVES

Search Rediff

Ambassador protests ill-treatment of Indian workers by US

C K Arora in Washington

Indian Ambassador to the United States Naresh Chandra has protested against the arrest of 40 Indian computer technicians who are accused of illegally working in the country.

In an interview to The Washington Times, he said he was ''saddened and disappointed'' to learn on Sunday of the arrest last week of the Indians at San Antonio, Texas, Air Force base where they were working under a civilian contract.

He said they were handcuffed and ''paraded'' to jail ''like common criminals'' by agents of the Immigration and Naturalization Service. ''Many were released after considerable humiliation,'' he said.

''We expect [such treatment] in other countries, but not in the United States,'' Chandra added.

Democratic Congressman Frank Pallone in a statement expressed concern at the event. "It seems that these individuals, who were working as computer programmers, were in this country legally and had the proper documentation,'' Pallone said.

''It appears that this matter was handled badly, and that the treatment given to these individuals was excessive. INS personnel should have treated these men and women with much more discretion and respect,'' he added.

Pallone said he would look into ''this case further to try to determine exactly what happened, and to try to prevent this type of situation from being repeated.''

According to The San Antonio Express-News, 13 of the arrested were freed without charge but face possible deportation. Two were released on personal recognisance bonds and the others posted bail of 5,000 dollars apiece.

The daily quoted Thomas Homan, INS assistant district director of criminal investigations, saying, ''the immigration service is sending a message. We're not going to tolerate companies or individuals who knowingly violate immigration law.''

The INS, after a six-month investigation, accused the Indians of abusing their work visas. The agency said the visas allowed them to work for a company in Houston, not in San Antonio.

The switch of cities was a fraudulent act known as ''body shopping,'' a practice under which a company illegally moves foreign workers around to other locations without federal government permission, according to the INS.

Two Houston firms, Frontier Consulting Inc and Softech Consulting Inc, insist that the Indians were employed legally and dispatched to San Antonio to work on a government computer contract at Randolf Air Force Base.

The Indian ambassador said his concern was to make sure the workers were properly represented and that the circumstances surrounding their arrest is investigated.

''We are not interested in shielding anyone,'' Chandra said. ''We simply want these good people to be treated decently.''

UNI

EARLIER REPORT:
Indian techies may sue INS

Back to top

Tell us what you think of this report