The U.S. media reported on the 10th that the Trump administration is cancelling the visas of international students who are legally residing in the U.S., as part of a broader policy aimed at deporting illegal immigrants. Secretary of State Marco Rubio justified the move by claiming there are \u201ccrazy people\u201d on campus and insisted that visa cancellations will continue.<\/p>\n
According to CNN and NBC, more than 300 international students have had their visas suddenly revoked across at least 22 states, including New York, Boston, and California, since the Trump administration took office. The crackdown hasn\u2019t been limited to students\u2014more than 340 visiting professors and researchers have also reportedly had their visas cancelled.<\/p>\n
Immigration lawyers highlighted that many cases resemble that of Mahmoud Khalil, who was arrested after leading a pro-Palestinian protest at Columbia University in the early days of the Trump administration. Recently, however, there has been a rise in visa revocations and deportation threats over minor offenses, with some students allegedly being targeted without cause.<\/p>\n
One notable case involves Kesnia Petrova, a Russian researcher at Harvard Medical School. Her visa was revoked, and she was detained upon returning to the U.S. from France for failing to declare frog embryos used in research. Her lawyer argued that the punishment was disproportionate to the mistake and warned that she could face arrest in Russia for previously speaking out against the war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n
NBC reported that the Department of Homeland Security recently established a task force to analyse international students\u2019 social media activity using data analytics tools as a basis for visa revocations. Elora Mukherjee, director of Columbia Law School\u2019s Immigrant Rights Clinic, condemned the targeting of predominantly non-white students, claiming current U.S. immigration policy is influenced by xenophobia, white supremacy, and racism.<\/p>\n
The administration is relying on a rarely used provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952, which allows the deportation of non-citizens if they are deemed to pose a potential threat to the U.S. When NBC questioned the rationale behind specific visa cancellations, the State Department declined to discuss individual cases, citing privacy concerns. They stated, \u201cWe cancel visas every day to protect our borders and keep our communities safe.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jeff Joseph, president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, criticized the government’s approach, arguing that immigration laws are being weaponized to intimidate students into leaving the country without legal support. Furthermore, there have been reports that students and schools are often not properly informed when a visa is cancelled, leading to confusion and fear.<\/p>\n
Stanford University recently identified six instances of visa cancellations during a routine audit of its international student and visiting scholar database. Meanwhile, Xiaotian Liu, a computer science researcher at Dartmouth from China, filed for a temporary injunction after his visa was cancelled mid-semester. A court approved the injunction the day before he was scheduled for deportation. Liu\u2019s attorney emphasized that his client had no criminal record, had not broken traffic laws, exhibited violent behaviour, or taken part in any protests.<\/p>\n
CNN cited government data indicating there were approximately 1.5 million student visa holders in the U.S. as of 2023, with around 300,000 involved in exchange visitor research programs.<\/p>\n
During a Cabinet meeting at the White House, Secretary Rubio pointed to student protesters and warned, \u201cIf you come here to vandalize libraries, occupy campuses, and do all kinds of crazy things, we will eliminate those people and continue to do that.\u201d He added, \u201cThe media is covering student visas as if they are a birthright, but they are not. A student visa is like I am inviting you into my home. If you come to my home and dirty the couch, I will kick you out. That’s what we are doing thanks to the president.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"