Hundreds of international students have been forced to leave the United States following a wave of aggressive student visa revocations under the Trump administration.
According to an email reportedly sent by the Department of Homeland Security and shared by immigration attorney Nicole Micheroni, students were warned in stark terms: “Do not attempt to remain in the United States. The federal government will find you.”
In many cases, students say they were given no clear explanation for the revocation of their visas. Some were even detained without prior notice, despite never having faced criminal charges or participating in any form of protest.
Attorney Dustin Baxter, who is representing over 100 affected students in a lawsuit against the government, stated that in some instances, visas were revoked after nothing more than a simple encounter with law enforcement or a minor citation. “Even without a conviction—or sometimes without an arrest—ICE would still revoke the student visa,” Baxter told CNN.
Adding to the confusion, many students first learned about their visa status changes from their universities rather than directly from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Meanwhile, universities themselves were often kept in the dark, only discovering visa cancellations after seeing student names flagged in government databases.
Stanford University, for example, reported that it was not officially notified after four students and two recent graduates had their visas rescinded. The school discovered the revocations during a routine check of the federal SEVIS database on April 4.
This shift marks a departure from long-standing immigration procedures, according to Jeff Joseph, president-elect of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. “Before the Trump administration, visa revocations were typically initiated by designated school officials. What we’re seeing now is ICE taking that power into its own hands,” he said.
One case that gained national attention involved Rümeysa Öztürk, a Tufts University doctoral student who was handcuffed by agents just days after her visa was revoked without notice. Surveillance footage reportedly shows Öztürk reacting in fear and confusion during the incident.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has since confirmed the visa cancellations, citing a policy clause that allows revocation if an individual is deemed to pose “serious foreign policy consequences.”
The State Department emphasized that visa holders are continuously monitored, even after a visa is issued. “We have broad authority to revoke visas at any time,” a spokesperson said. “If individuals fail to comply with the rules, their visas will be canceled and they will be removed.”
