Almost 150 students revoked visas and could face deportation

At least 147 international students have been abruptly stripped of their ability to remain in the United States in the last few days, according to universities and media relationships, sowing fear between students and confusion in schools that climb to help students face detention and possible deportation.

The moves targeted students in a wide range of universities, from private institutions such as Harvard and Stanford to public ones such as the University of Texas in Austin and Minnesota State University-Mankato. The University of California had dozens of cases reported in its campus.

Several immigration lawyers declared to the New York Times that they started receiving hectic and -mailing and called at the end of last week by students who had been informed by the State Department or by their universities that their visas or states had been interrupted without clear justifications.

Criminal beliefs have always put students at risk of losing their status, but participation in political actions and the commission of traffic infringements have been rarely cited as justifications.

In some cases, immigration officials arrested international students linked to their involvement in the pro-Palestinian causes. In other cases, the students had committed legal infringements, such as driving beyond the speed limit or while he was drunk, often years ago, said several immigration lawyers in the interviews.

But lawyers said that the Trump administration has often not given any reason, leaving them to guess that the students were targeted.

“This overturns all the practice of the government,” said Miriam Feldblum, CEO of the alliance of the presidents on higher education and immigration, which represents over 570 college and private universities throughout the country. “Students status are ending in a way that they have never done before and practically without explanations and unhappy to correct or appeal to the institution or students.”

At the end of last month, Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State, ordered diplomats To rub the posts on social media Of some candidates to keep those who suspect to criticize the United States and Israel away from the country.

The State Department and the National Security Department did not immediately respond to messages in search of comments.

Recent moves add more anxiety to an already precarious environment for students and international scholars in the United States. Supporters of international education fear that these moves will cool the ability of US schools to attract foreign students.

Last month, Mahmoud Khalil, a recent graduate student from Columbia University who was involved in pro-Palestinian activism during the protests of the campus last year, was arrested In his apartment and sent to Louisiana for a possible deportation, despite being permanent resident. Shortly thereafter, Rumeysa Ozturk, a student from the University of Tufts in Türkiye, has been detained by agents masked by US immigration and the application of customs, while he was on his way to meet friends. Mrs. Ozturk, who had written a pro-Palestinian opinion essay, was also brought to Louisiana.

The moves aimed at international students adapt to the wider political agenda of the Trump administration to reduce the number of immigrants, both legal and documents without documents, and to force universities to repress what the president says rampant anti -Semitism on campus.

The United States have issued over 400,000 visas for students in 2024.

Some students targeted have recently committed crimes as an excess of speed or guide while they were drunk, the lawyers said. They said these crimes have not normally increased to deportation.

Without a visa, an international student becomes without documents and must leave the United States or risk being detained and placed in deportation procedures. Several lawyers said they had customers who had opted to leave the country for fear of being able to be arrested by Ice agents, the national security agency accused of carrying out the commitment of Mr. Trump of mass deportations.

Some struck students are graduate students who have doctoral thesis that should defend next month. Others are university students. Still others have completed their studies and have worked in the United States, as part of a special program that allows recent graduates to stay in the country for a maximum of three years if they were employed.

“This is totally unprecedented,” said Fuji Whittenburg, immigration lawyer in Calabasas, California, who have been practicing the law for 20 years. “I’ve never seen anything close to this.”

He added: “A brush with the police who did not necessarily lead to an arrest or a sentence is all that it took”.

Mrs. Whittenburg said that one of her customers was an Indian citizen who got a Dui when she studied in the United States more than a decade ago. When applied for a second visa for more recently students, he revealed the accusation to the US consular authorities in his country of origin. In the end they granted him the visa to continue further studies in the United States.

Harvard advised international students last week During a webinar to reconsider travel abroad, according to Harvard Crimson, the student newspaper. The staff also warned the students that the pro-Palestinian discourse could be risky.

During the webinar, Jason Corral, a lawyer, said that there seemed to be a change from the first term of President Trump, according to Crimson. “The difference is that we have seen situations in which it seems that people’s visas are revoked simply based on their speech or their protests,” he said.

On alertA coalition of media organizations of national students urged the media of students last week to “minimize the damage”, citing threats to the students’ speech.

On Monday a letter sent to Michael Drake, the president of the University of California, and others from the Council of the University of California Faculty Association said that the University should help students who had been targeted, claiming that he had a “moral obligation” to protect the legal rights of students and scholars.

The letter, which was co-founded by the University of the Council, a teaching faculty and a library union, invited the University to allow deported or detained students to continue their programs remotely, to continue to provide salaries, salaries and scholarships and to help students in court.

Several students have sued the government to challenge their resolutions and the causes will be accumulated.

Stacy Tolchin, an immigration lawyer in Pasadena, California, presented two seeds at the Federal Court of Los Angeles on Saturday and said he would have filed more this week.

In one case, the American Civil Liberties Union represents a Chinese doctoral student at the Dartmouth College who studied IT. According to a complaint filed on April 4, the student, Xiaotian Liu, had not committed crimes nor did he participate in any protest.

The college told the student in an e -mail that this was not “a standard or normal procedure”, according to the case, which was presented at the Federal Court in New Hampshire.

“The Xiaotian dream of finishing its doctoral program and obtaining a doctorate at Dartmouth College is now at serious risk,” said the cause.