'More than 100 colleges and universities across the country have reported cases of student visas being revoked by the U.S. State Department, with the department changing the legal status of over 600 international students and recent graduates, according to Inside Higher Ed.
“No president should be allowed to set an ideological litmus test and exclude or remove people from our country who they disagree with,” the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said in a statement.
Several universities have reported that some international students were forced to abruptly leave the United States after discovering — sometimes through a federal database, or via unexpected text messages or emails — that their visas had been canceled. Attorneys representing the affected students say that many lost their visas without any prior notice, explanation, or chance to respond. In many cases, university administrators were also left in the dark, receiving no formal explanation from federal immigration agencies.
Legal advocates say the Trump administration has increasingly revoked visas based on pro-Palestianian sentiment. While legal scholars affirm that international students are entitled to First Amendment protections, their temporary immigration status makes them especially vulnerable to punitive measures related to political speech.
“By surveilling visa and green card holders and targeting them based on nothing more than their protected expression, the administration trades America’s commitment to free and open discourse for fear and silence. Unfortunately, that chill appears to be the administration’s aim,” the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) wrote on X.'
The State Department Has Revoked the Visas of Over 600 Students at 100+ Schools
Some students were forced to leave the country after being sent a text message saying that their visas were cancelled.Zane McNeill (Truthout)
