After President Donald Trump’s announcement of deportations taking place in the U.S., college students are facing their visas being revoked by their own schools.
With little notice to the schools, the government has been terminating students’ legal residency status. Last month, almost 300 international students in 29 states had their visas stripped away, but the number of students has now reached over 500 in over 80 universities.
Students from major colleges and universities have mostly been affected, such as Harvard, Michigan State and Stanford. Harvard has even advised their international students to not travel outside of the U.S.
The F-1 visa which “allows noncitizens to enter the United States as full-time students at accredited education institutions” and the J-1 visa which “allows people to participate in approved programs for studying, conducting research, receiving training or demonstrating special skills” are being targeted.
With these student visas being unexpectedly revoked, it heightens the risk of the students being deported back to their home countries even though they attend a school that they got into and pay for.
After the secretary of state Marco Rubio ordered diplomats to look through the social media accounts of visa applicants for posts “criticizing the United States and Israel,” the Trump administration has been particularly targeting students who had been involved with pro-Palestinian activism.
Mahmoud Khalil, a graduate student at Columbia University of Palestinian descent, took part in multiple protests about the war in Gaza unmasked, unlike the rest of the immigrants who were in attendance. He previously taught himself English while “helping orient the volunteers and managing multiple education centers” with Syrian refugees in Lebanon and later on made a life for himself and his wife in the U.S.
After being called out by critics by name on social media, Khalil had been taken to a detention center for what officials have described, without providing any details, as “leading activities aligned with Hamas.”
Khalil has denied the allegations, but is still being held at the Central Louisiana Ice Processing Center, while his 8-month pregnant wife is alone in New York City.
Another student attending Columbia University who participated in pro-Palestine protests was arrested by the Department of Homeland Security. The arrest of Leqaa Kordia, who is Palestinian and from the West Bank, took place days after Khalil was taken to Louisiana.
Other than targeting protestors, students who have “relatively minor offenses like years-old misdemeanors” are being seen by the Trump administration as a reason to be deported.
Michelle Mittelstadt, director of public affairs at the Migration Policy Institute has stated to the Associated Press, “What you’re seeing happening with international students is really a piece of the much greater scrutiny that the Trump administration is bringing to bear on immigrants of all different categories
jcaramag@ramapo.edu
Featured photo courtesy of @quentin.quarantino, Instagram
