A prominent Indian journalist was notified by the Trump administration this week that his student visa to pursue a master’s program in the U.S. had been denied. The prospective student, Kaushik Raj, a journalist who has reported for international and Indian publications alike, was told in his rejection letter that the U.S. government felt he did not have enough ties to his home country.

Set to study data journalism at Columbia University’s graduate journalism school, Raj was incredulous. His entire family is in India, his reporting has been on India, and he had told the American consular officer during his interview that he intended to use the skills he learned at Columbia to report data-driven stories about rural India.

“I am being punished for my journalism, for my views,” he told The

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