At Least 4,700 International Student Records Estimated to Have Been Erased Recently
The second Trump administration is reportedly canceling visas en masse, not only deporting immigrants but also revoking the visas of international students holding legitimate visas.
On the 10th (local time), CNN and others reported that since the launch of the second Trump administration, visas of more than 300 international students have been canceled in at least 22 states across the United States. Including visiting professors and researchers, the estimated number of visa cancellations exceeds 340. According to NAFSA (Association of International Educators), nearly 1,000 international students and scholars have had their visas canceled or federal records erased since mid-March. The American Immigration Lawyers Association estimates that at least 4,700 cases of international student records have been erased since President Trump took office.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio emphasized that "there are lunatics on campus" and stated, "We will continue to take measures to cancel student visas once their identities are confirmed." When this measure was first implemented, cases like Mahmoud Khalil, who was arrested for leading a pro-Palestinian protest at Columbia University, were discovered. However, recently, even minor offenses have been cited as reasons for visa cancellations and deportation threats, and the number of affected students appears to be increasing. Some of the deported students are reported to have been targeted without clear reasons. Moreover, authorities often fail to properly notify the individuals or their schools after canceling student visas, causing confusion among the students.
Ksenia Petrova, a Harvard Medical School researcher of Russian nationality, had her visa canceled and was detained in February while returning to the U.S. from France for failing to declare research frog embryos. Petrova's lawyer criticized this as "an excessive punishment for a simple mistake."
According to NBC, citing sources, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has formed a task force (TF) to investigate social media records of international students to find reasons for visa cancellations. Because of this, international students in the U.S. are deleting their social media accounts and refraining from going out. A student of Canadian and Iranian nationality attending Georgetown University said they deactivated their account on X (formerly Twitter) out of concern that it could affect their U.S. citizenship acquisition. The student, who is part of the student council, added that they recently received advice not to participate in certain conversations for safety reasons.
Elora Mukherjee, head of the Immigrant Rights Clinic at Columbia Law School, pointed out, "Most of those whose visas have been canceled are students of color," and criticized, "The current U.S. immigration policy is based on xenophobia and white supremacy." Jeff Joseph, president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, criticized, "All these tools in immigration law are being used with the intent that international students, unable to receive proper legal support and confused, will eventually leave this country."
The Trump administration cites the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 as the legal basis for such measures. This law allows the Secretary of State to deport non-citizens who may cause "potential adverse consequences" to the United States. As of 2023, there are approximately 1.5 million student visa holders and about 300,000 exchange visiting researchers in the U.S. Secretary Rubio stated, "If people come to the U.S. to damage library property and occupy campuses, we will continue to remove such individuals."
Vina Dubal, a law professor at the University of California, Irvine, noted, "The feeling that anyone could potentially be targeted will have a tremendous chilling effect across the United States."
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