US visa revocations hit Stanford; students lose legal status to stay in America
INTERNATIONAL students from at least three major colleges in the United States face deportation after their study visas were revoked this week.
Stanford University, the University of California and the University of Massachusetts Amherst have witnessed several student visas getting revoked.
Once the student visa is revoked, the students’ legal status to remain in the United States stands cancelled. They run the risk of getting deported. In the past, students’ legal statuses in the United States were not immediately cancelled due to a revoked visa. Under the new administration, in some cases, student statuses are being revoked within hours of the visa’s revocation.
The immigration authorities do not inform the universities, and, therefore, they have to proactively check the SEVIS system to find out the latest on student visa revocation.
Federal authorities have revoked the student visas of two recent graduates and four Stanford University students, the university said.
Stanford University said that it learned of the revocations during a routine check of the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) database.
SEVIS is a web-based system for maintaining information on nonimmigrant students and exchange visitors in the United States.
Stanford notified the students of the revocations and made external legal assistance available to them.
To protect student privacy, Stanford is unable to identify the individuals or provide other details.
Stanford, in the statement, also mentioned that they are not currently aware of the details of the revocations or the reasons for them. Stanford confirmed that they are not aware of any presence of immigration authorities on April 4 when the revocation news came to light.
Stanford keeps student and personnel records private and will not share such information with immigration agencies unless legally compelled to do so, the university’s statement said.
The revocations come as the Trump administration has stepped up its nationwide attempts to tighten down on immigration, boost deportations, and target college activists who have been critical of issues concerning Israel, Hamas or Palestine.
Late last month, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said during a press conference that the State Department has revoked 300 or more student visas.
In a similar incident, a statement from Chancellor Gary S. May, University of California, Davis, provided the latest on Federal Immigration Enforcement Actions.
On April 5, the University learned through our Services for International Students and Scholars unit that the federal government had terminated the eligibility of student visas for international students across the country to stay in the U.S.
At UC Davis, seven students and five recent graduates have had their F-1 visas terminated. This number may change. “Federal agents have not entered our campus, and they have not placed any member of our community in custody,” said May.
Enforcement of federal immigration laws rests with the federal government and not with UC police. Campus police officers will not contact, detain, question or arrest an individual solely based on suspected undocumented immigration status or to discover the immigration status of any individual.
UC police will not undertake joint efforts with federal immigration enforcement authorities to investigate, detain or arrest individuals for violation of federal immigration law.
Another incident came to light when Chancellor Javier Reyes University of Massachusetts Amherst highlighted that five international students had had their visas revoked and student statuses terminated by the federal government this week.
Similar incidents have been reported at Minnesota State University in Mankato, where student visas had been revoked for five international students for unclear reasons.
The government has intensified its crackdown on international students, revoked entry visas, and terminated their residency status without notice, including students at Arizona State, Cornell, North Carolina State, the University of Oregon, the University of Texas and the University of Colorado.
