Indians studying in American educational institutions should not be kicked out as the country needs smart people like them, Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump has said. "We shouldn't kick them out the day they graduate," he said.

"Whether we like that or not, they pay, et cetera, et cetera but we educate a lot of people, very smart people. We need those people in the country," Trump, 69, said.

"They cannot come into the country. You know, they go to Harvard, they are first in their class and they're from India they go back to India and they set up companies and they make a fortune and they employ lots of people and all of that," he said.

"Many people want to stay in this country and then want to do that. I think somebody that goes through years of college in this country we shouldn't kick them out the day they graduate, which we do," Trump said.

Trump has been widely accused of having an "all or nothing" stance when it comes to immigrants. There are about roughly 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States.

Indian-Americans' political preferences seem to be shifting in favour of the Republican Party, particularly Donald Trump. Several groups of Indian-Americans, a majority of them Hindus, have taken the social media route to voice their support for Trump.

One such page on Facebook is "Hindus For Trump". With around 750 "likes", the page in its description says: "American Hindus are model citizens, educated and industrious. We want a responsible nation where Americans are both safe and free."

There is also a Political Action Committee (PAC), formed by leading Indian American businessmen to pool in support and contribution for an effective presidential campaign of Trump.

By Premji