'All protection to Telugu students against whom charges in

: The state government advisor on Non resident Telugu Affairs Thursday assured all protection to those Telugu students against whom charges in the alleged fraudulent immigration scandal in USA are found to be false.

"We don't have full information as yet on the charges they are facing,but if the allegations against them are false, we will provide all required help to protect them," V Ravi Kumar told reporters here.

"There are over two lakh Telugu students in the US but only 600 are facing a problem now," he said.

Kumar said a helpline has been opened at the NRT office here (number 0863-2340678) to offer help to parents of students facing trouble in the US.

He said students need to take adequate precautions while enrolling in the US universities and seeking immigration to avoid problems.

Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh Non-Resident Telugu Society Thursday said it would extend required assistance to the students concerned.

The Society asked parents of the students not to panic as the US government would only deport illegal immigrants.

The American Telugu Association has also taken up the cause of the students with the Indian Ambassador to the US.

The ATA has promised all legal assistance to the aggrieved students in the case.

Several foreigners, including from India, are facing deportation from the US after authorities busted a "pay to stay" visa racket and arrested eight people on charges of fraudulently facilitating at least 600 immigrants to illegally remain in the country.

In late-night and pre-dawn raids, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested eight foreigners -- all of whom are either Indian nationals or Indian Americans -- for aiding foreign nationals to remain in the United States illegally by actively recruiting them to enrol into a fake university in Farmington Hills in Metro Detroit.