Chinese Students Detained in US, University Demands Answers

Source: LA Times

Nine Chinese students who attend Arizona State University were denied entry into the U.S. when they arrived at Los Angeles International airport last month and university officials are demanding to know why the students were sent back to China.

The students were detained at LAX in the days prior to the start of classes on Aug. 22 and were on their way to the universitys Phoenix-area campuses, school officials said. But they were deemed inadmissible by Customs and Border Protection.

University officials said all the students were academically eligible to return to ASU and to the U.S. under their visas.

A spokesperson for U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement that there are more than 60 reasons a foreigner might be considered inadmissible, including health-related grounds, criminality, security reasons and immigration violations. The statement said the Chinese students were deemed inadmissible based on information discovered during the CBP inspection, but did not elaborate.

A spokesperson for the State Department referred all inquiries to Customs and Border Protection.

All of the students were undergraduates and among them were at least one engineer, a student studying supply-chain management and some life sciences majors, a university official said.

ASU officials remain in contact with the students, many of whom are continuing their studies through online or independent coursework.

ASU President Michael Crow last week sent letters to the Department of Homeland Security, which has jurisdiction over Customs and Border Protection, and the State Department, requesting a review of each students situation and an explanation of the standard procedures for screening international students and their electronic devices.

In our country, where we value due process and celebrate the different ways in which our government behaves from that of the arbitrary and capricious behavior of other nations, it is beyond my comprehension how the U.S. government could establish and implement policies that bring about the outcomes we are now witnessing, Crow wrote.

A university official said Wednesday that Crow had yet to receive a response.

The ASU students denial comes as other universities are also battling the federal governments policies and actions toward international students.

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