51 Thai students in US face deportation

BANGKOK, March 4 (TNA) - A group of 51 Thai students in the state of Florida, in the United States have been detained and are facing deportation after they did not fully attend classes at a language school, and contradicted the terms of their visas that specified that they were to attend classes regularly, according to the Foreign Affairs Ministry Information Department deputy director general Thani Thongphakdi.

Mr Thani said that all the students were studying at Florada Language School and the school was now closed down.

The school was also charged that it had neglected, not applied sufficiently strict measures to force the students to attend classes while the students held F-1 visas required them as full time students to attend classes regularly, he said.

All the Thai students were charged with violating US immigration law and were not allowed to be bailed out, but they were awaiting to appear before an immigration judge individually to hear their verdicts, he said.

Mr Thani said the students could ask to voluntarily return to Thailand or to fight the case in the United States.

As for the Thai students who were considered violating immigration laws in similar ways but were not detained, he said that they should return to Thailand but should inform the Thai embassy to avoid possible arrest.

The Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs also warned Thai students who want to study in the US to strictly observe the regulations and laws and carefully choose their school.

The 51 Thai students were among some foreign 100 students who were detained by the American authorities. (TNA)