The Oberlin Review
<< Front page News September 10, 2004

Guest professor detained

An Indian professor of history who was planning to teach a mini-course last week was detained by U.S. immigration officials on Oct. 25 and forced to return to India apparently due to complications with his visa.

Ramachandra Guha, a historian and writer who has also taught courses at Yale, Stanford and the University of Oslo, was supposed to teach a course on “Ecology and Equity” from Oct. 25 through 29.

He has also been published in the Times Literary Supplement, Granta and The Ecologist.

After lecturing for a week at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, Guha was on his way to Oberlin College.

When he arrived at U.S. Immigration in Toronto he was told that he could not earn money in the U.S. by immigration officials because of his B1/B2 type visa.

He was then sent to a “cold room” which he describes as unwelcoming, where he met a Canadian man, originally from Bangladesh, who was in a similar situation.

After being detained for a while, he was then told that he could not continue his trip because he needed a J1 or “regular teaching visa.”

Contrary to what Guha was told by American immigration officials, a person can work for pay for a period of up to nine days at a time in as many as five different universities on a B1/B2 visa.  He was unable to continue his trip and had to fly to London where he was able to return to India.

In a written account, Guha reflected on the possible reasons for his detention.

“One reason might have been my jhola, a patch of mirror-work on red,” he said.  “Another, certainly, was the letter of invitation from Oberlin, which specified a fee for my lectures, which greatly angered [the American Immigration Official].”

“The College administration is looking into ways to protest to the department of Homeland Security to make sure that this never happens again,” Mike Fisher, professor of history, said. “The administration has also apologized and continues to apologize for any financial and personal difficulties that this incident caused Dr. Guha.”

Professor Fisher wound up teaching the class without Guha. Despite the professor’s absence, he said that most students had stayed with the class.
 
 

   

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