At least 147 international students have been abruptly stripped of their ability to stay in the United States in recent days, according to the media universities and reports, sowing the fear of students and confusion in schools that are mixed to help students.
The moves are targeted by students in a wide range of universities, from private institutions such as Harvard and Stanford to Public, such as the University of Texas at Austin and State University Mankato. The University of California had dozens of cases mentioned in all campuses.
Several immigration lawyers told the New York Times that they began receiving frantic emails and calls late last week by students notified by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or their universities that their visas or situations had been terminated without clear excuses.
Criminal convictions have always put students at risk of losing their status, but participation in political actions and the commission of traffic violations have rarely been referred to as excuses.
In some cases, immigration officers arrested international students associated with their participation in pre-Palestinian causes. In other cases, students had committed legal violations, such as driving at the speed limit or while in drunkenness, years ago, several immigration lawyers said in interviews.
But the lawyers said Trump’s administration often gave no reason at all, letting them guess why the students were aiming.
“This increases all the usual practice by the government,” said Miriam Feldblum, chief executive of the presidents of presidents for higher education and immigration, which represents more than 570 public and private colleges and universities across the country. “They terminate students’ situations in a way they have never done before and with almost no explanation and little appeal to correct or attract either by the institution or by the students.”
Late last month, Marco Rubio, the Foreign Minister, ordered diplomats to clear the registrations of social media outlets of some visa applicants to keep those who suspect the United States and Israel away from the country.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to commentary messages.
Recent moves add more stress to an already precarious environment for international students and scholars in the United States. International education supporters are concerned that such moves will cover the ability of US schools to attract foreign students.
Last month, Mahmoud Khalil, a recent postgraduate student at the University of Columbia, who participated in pre-palette activism during the campus protests last year, was arrested in his apartment and was sent to Louisa. Shortly afterwards, Rumeysa Ozturk, a student at Tufts University from Turkey, was held by masked agents from American immigration and customs enforcement while on the road to meet friends. Mrs Ozturk, who had written a pre-Palestinian opinion essay, was also transferred to Louisiana.
The moves aimed at international students match the wider Trump’s policy agenda to reduce the number of immigrants, both legal and without documents, and to force universities to destroy what the president is saying is the universalist.
The United States issued more than 400,000 students in 2024.
Some of the recently targeted students had committed offenses such as acceleration or driving while drunken, the lawyers said. They said that such offenses did not usually reach expulsion.
Without a visa, an international student is made without documents and must leave the United States or risk being held and placed in deportation procedures. Several lawyers said they had clients who had chosen to leave the country for fear that they could be arrested by ICE agents, the internal security service accused of executing the promise of Mr Trump’s mass deportations.
Some of the affected students are postgraduate students who have doctoral theses that are supposed to defend next month. Others are undergraduate. Still others have completed their studies and are working in the United States, under a special program that allows recent international graduates to stay in the country for up to three years, if employed.
“This is completely unprecedented,” said Fuji Whittenburg, a Calabasas migration lawyer, California, who has been practicing the law for 20 years. “I have never seen anything close to it.”
He added, “A law enforcement brush that did not necessarily lead to arrest or a belief is all it needed.”
Mrs Whittenburg said one of her clients was an Indian national who took a Dui when studying in the United States more than a decade. When he applied for a second student visa more recently, he revealed the charge to the US Consular Authorities in his country. Eventually they gave him the view to pursue further studies in the United States.
Harvard briefed international students last week during a webinar to review overseas, according to Harvard Crimson, the Student newspaper. Staff also warned students that pre-Palestinian speech could be dangerous.
During the Webinar, Jason Corral, a lawyer, said there was a change from President Trump’s first term, according to The Crimson. “The difference is that we have seen situations where people’s visas are only being recalled based on their speech or protests,” he said.
A letter sent to Michael Drake, president of the University of California and others on Monday by the Council of the University of California School, said the university would help students targeted, arguing that they had a “moral obligation”.
The letter, co -existed by the AFT University Council, a Teaching School and Union of Librarians, called on the university to allow the deported or kept students to continue their programs, to continue to provide grants, salaries and salaries.
Many students have sued the government to challenge their finishes and the lawsuits are expected to accumulate.
Stacy Tolchin, a migration lawyer in Pasadena, California, filed two lawsuits to the Federal Court in Los Angeles on Saturday and said he would file more this week.
In one case, the US Association of Political Liberties represents a Chinese doctoral student at Dartmouth College, who has studied computer science. According to a complaint filed on April 4, student Xiaotian Liu had not committed crimes or participated in protests.
College told the student in an email that this was not “it was not a standard or normal procedure”, according to a lawsuit filed with the federal court in New Humsire.
“Xiaotian’s dream of completing his doctorate and obtain a doctorate at Dartmouth College is now in serious danger,” the lawsuit said.
