I am sorry to see the plight of the kids. They should have definitely got consideration that they are kids. The difference between the Frenchman and Indian kids was the passport. You need to have a passport to get a transit Visa. So the immiration could not do anything. Would the US allow any Non Resident US person to enter the country without any identification. The passport is a must.
A point to note about NRIs is that when Indian people travel abroad for a short duration or may be few months, we get a feeling of second hand people. These same white people treat us better than our own brownies settled there.
The immigration officials were right in not allowing without passport, but they should have given consideration and have made some arrangement to have their passport mailed/couriered as they were kids. I think other than being kids, there should no other merit considered.
