At Least 1700 Student Visas Have Been Revoked Under Trump So Far
The number of revoked student visas is likely much higher, as some colleges have not provided the number of students affected
Students at over 250 colleges and universities have been affected by the Trump administration’s effort to revoke student visas over dubious claims of antisemitism and as part of its immigration crackdown. Weaponizing speech is but one way the administration has been targeting nonwhite immigrants and visa holders.
According to Inside Higher Ed’s international student visa revocation tracker, 1,709 students have had their visas revoked by the Department of State. Some estimates suggest that visa revocations are as high as 5,000. This is likely because some institutions didn’t provide a number for how many students were affected, with others reporting “a few” or a “very low number.”
The justification by Marco Rubio’s State Department for many of the revocations has been for petty crimes, such as citations like traffic tickets. At Arizona State University, where more than 100 students had their visas revoked, that number is likely to be much higher, according to a statement provided by United Campus Workers of Arizona president Michael Kinschter to a local news outlet.
“We’ve been able to confirm a little over 100 students have their visas revoked at ASU specifically, although we believe the number is much higher; that's just what we've been able to confirm so far,” Kintscher told ABC 15.
Kintscher’s comments highlight just how difficult much of this is to track. Not only are accurate numbers hard to come by, but the administration is moving carelessly fast in trying to circumvent the legal system. This is what makes Trump’s cabinet dangerous. Visa revocations largely stem from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) deleting the records of visa holders in the Student Exchange and Visitor Information System (SEVIS).
Deleting data from the database that allows universities and authorities to track information about international students on visas led to schools advising students that they have thus lost their immigration status and must immediately leave the country. While DHS admits that terminating records in the SEVIS system doesn’t cancel an individual’s nonimmigrant status, it has tried to justify the deletions based on dubious claims of criminality.
“Terminating a record in SEVIS does not terminate an individual’s nonimmigrant status in the United States … the authority to issue or revoke visas for nonimmigrant students lies with the Department of State.”
DHS contends that it deleted the SEVIS records of students based on communications received from the State Department in many court filings. Since the State Department is making the requests, it signals an intent to revoke the visas. That they are deleting records before the revocations, seemingly out of order, speaks to the sloppiness of the Trump administration and the dangers it poses to innocent immigrants and nonimmigrants on student visas.
On Tuesday, a federal judge in Georgia ruled that the Trump administration had to reinstate the legal statuses of 133 international students, according to an order granting temporary restraining orders on behalf of those plaintiffs filed in a U.S. District Court on April 18.
With Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) dumping more than 700,000 administrative warrants, that is, warrants not signed by a judge but by someone in a supervisory capacity at ICE, speaks to how these students could easily be swept up before courts could act. Many migrants who were sent to El Salvador, Guantanamo, and are being held in detention facilities were imprisoned under similar circumstances.
Since so many agents are from different federal agencies, and with ICE agents hardly knowing what documentation they are looking for, or not caring about documentation proving citizenship or proving someone is allowed to be in the country, the administration is putting students at great risk.
Read the Trump Admin’s Court Filing
Arturo is an independent journalist whose work can be found at Unicorn Riot, The Antagonist Magazine, Latino Rebels, and more. Arturo is also on TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, and Threads. To support his work, become a paid subscriber or donate via Venmo, PayPal, or Cash App.
Regarding the federal judge in Georgia, at what point does ignoring court orders and incurring contempt-of-court punishments prompt U.S. marshals to show up at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue?