Sudden Status Loss Sparks panic

What began as a trickle of inquiries has turned into a flood. Initially, the bar association for immigration attorneys received only a couple of calls daily from foreign students in the U.S.,who discovered in early april that their legal status had been terminated with minimal warning. These students, to the best of their knowledge, had not committed any offence that would warrant deportation.

Now, the situation has escalated dramatically. Hundreds of students are calling, reporting the loss of their legal status and seeking urgent advice. matthew Maiona,a Boston-based immigration attorney,describes the surge: We thoght it was going to be something that was unusual,but it seems now like it’s coming pretty fast and furious. Maiona reports receiving approximately six calls a day from panicked international students.

Colleges Stunned by Federal Actions

The speed and breadth of the federal government’s actions have taken colleges across the nation by surprise.From prestigious private universities to large public research institutions and small liberal arts colleges, few areas of higher education have been spared. Schools are discovering status terminations among their international students at an alarming rate.

In California, the impact is widespread, affecting nearly every university of California campus, multiple California State University campuses, Santa Monica College, and private institutions like Stanford, Chapman University, and Claremont Graduate University. Since late March, over 120 visas have been revoked in California alone, including at least a dozen at UCLA, 23 at UC Berkeley, and six at Cal State Long Beach.

Nationwide, an Associated Press review of university statements, correspondence with school officials, and court records reveals that at least 1,024 students at 160 colleges, universities, and university systems have had their visas revoked or their legal status terminated. Advocacy groups suggest that the actual number could be much higher, with potentially hundreds more students caught in this crackdown.

Targeted for Minor Infractions?

International students are a vital source of revenue for tuition-dependent colleges.Last year, approximately 1.1 million international students were in the United States. These students are typically ineligible for federal financial aid and frequently enough pay full tuition, making their enrollment financially meaningful for American schools.

California hosts the largest foreign student population in the U.S., with the University of Southern California (USC) having the largest international enrollment in the state, exceeding 17,000 students. While USC has not confirmed specific visa revocations, staff, students, and professors have indicated that international students have been affected. UC Berkeley and UCLA also rank among the California campuses with the highest international enrollments.

Many affected students are from India and China, which together account for over half of the international students in American colleges. However, attorneys emphasize that the terminations are not limited to students from any single region.

Legal Challenges Mount

Three students from Southern California have filed lawsuits against the Trump management in federal court, alleging that their statuses were illegally terminated. the students, who remain anonymous, attend different institutions: one was on a postgraduate professional training visa after attending a Los Angeles campus, another attends a university in Orange County, and the third is enrolled at a campus in the Inland Empire.

The Los Angeles student’s complaint states that his only criminal history is a misdemeanor charge that was later dismissed and that he has no conviction for a crime of violence.

The Orange County student’s suit claims that their only legal violations were a minor speeding ticket and a misdemeanor alcohol-related driving conviction, and that the State Department was aware of the alcohol charge before renewing their visa. The Inland Empire student’s complaint indicates that their only criminal history is a minor misdemeanor non-alcohol-related driving conviction.

Four students from two Michigan universities have also sued Trump administration officials after their F-1 student status was terminated. Their attorney, Ramis Wadood of the American Civil Liberties Union, stated that the students were not given a clear reason for the terminations: We don’t know, and that’s the scary part.

Wadood explained that the students were informed of the status terminations via email from their universities, citing a criminal records check and/or that their visa was revoked. Though, none of the students had been charged or convicted of crimes. Some had minor traffic violations,such as speeding or parking tickets,while one had no violations at all.Only one student was aware that their entry visa had been revoked.

Government’s Rationale and Judicial Pushback

Last month, Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated that the State Department was revoking visas of visitors acting against national interests, including those protesting Israel’s war in Gaza and those facing criminal charges.

In New Hampshire, a federal judge granted a temporary restraining order to restore the status of Xiaotian Liu, a doctoral student at Dartmouth College. Similarly, a federal judge in Wisconsin issued an order preventing the government from detaining or revoking the visa of a University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate student. Two graduate students at Montana State University, Bozeman, also received a temporary restraining order, restoring their legal status and shielding them from deportation.

A Shift in Federal Procedures

Colleges have traditionally been notified of changes in students’ legal status after they informed the government that a student was no longer enrolled. However, many colleges now learn of status terminations when staff check a database managed by the Department of Homeland Security, marking a significant departure from past practices.

Fanta Aw, chief executive of NAFSA, an association of international educators, noted that the system for tracking international student enrollment and movements was placed under the control of Immigration and Customs Enforcement after the Sept. 11 attacks. She emphasized that recent developments have created fear among students, who worry about how easily they can fall out of compliance: You don’t need more than a small number to create fear. There’s no clarity of what are the reasons and how far the reach of this is.

NAFSA estimates that as many as 1,300 students have lost visas or had their status terminated, based on reports from colleges.

The Department of Homeland Security and State Department have not responded to requests for comment.

uncertainty and Adaptation

Typically, foreigners facing removal proceedings receive a notice to appear in immigration court. However, lawyers report that affected students have not received such notices, leaving them uncertain about their next steps.

Some schools have advised students to leave the country to avoid potential detention or deportation. Other students have appealed the terminations and remain in the U.S.while their appeals are processed.

The situation also affects individuals who have completed their studies and are in the U.S. on “optional practical training,” which allows graduates to work in the U.S.for one year (or up to three years for science and technology graduates) while awaiting H-1B or other employment visas. Approximately 242,000 foreigners are employed through optional practical training, in addition to the roughly 500,000 graduate students and 342,000 undergraduate students in the U.S.

One such case involves a Georgia Tech doctoral student, scheduled to graduate on May 5 with a faculty job offer, who was likely targeted due to an unpaid traffic fine from when he lent his car to a friend.The violation was ultimately dismissed. His attorney, Charles Kuck, who represents 17 students in a federal lawsuit, stated: We have case after case after case exactly like that, where there is no underlying crime. Kuck’s firm has heard from hundreds of students.

These are kids who now, under the Trump administration, realize their position is fragile.They’ve preyed on a very vulnerable population. These kids aren’t hiding. They’re in school, Kuck added.

in response to the uncertainty, some international students have altered their daily routines. A doctoral student from China at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, who wished to remain anonymous, now carries her passport and immigration paperwork at all times, as advised by the university’s international student office. She expressed distress over the terminations, even for students without criminal records: That is the most scary part because you don’t know whether you’re going to be the next person.