US revokes dozens of student visas amid crackdown on pro-Palestinians
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UCLA Chancellor, Julio Frenk, said in a statement that the Student and Exchange Visitor Program has canceled the visas of six current and past students engaged in a professional training program.
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Texas A&M Young Democratic Socialists of America participate in a pro-Palestine protest in Rudder Plaza on campus on April 23, 2024, in College Station, Texas (AP)
The Trump administration has canceled the visas of scores of students from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Berkeley, Stanford University, and Columbia University as part of its crackdown on pro-Palestine activists.
UCLA Chancellor, Julio Frenk, said in a statement that the Student and Exchange Visitor Program has canceled the visas of six current and past students engaged in a professional training program.
Frenk noted that the termination notifications indicated that they were all due to "violations of the terms of the individuals' visa programs," stating that recent visa revocations at UCLA prompted worries within the community and are part of a larger pattern at campuses around the country.
The University of California, Berkeley said that the Department of Homeland Security canceled six students' F-1 visas and ordered them to leave the country this week. Similarly, Stanford University revealed that four students and two recent graduates also had their visas revoked.
According to the student publication Columbia Spectator, four students at Columbia University had their visas canceled.
The revocation of visas comes after a spate of arrests of international students around the United States in March. The Trump administration cited an immigration provision that authorizes removal for "serious adverse foreign policy consequences."
Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil and Tufts student Rumeysa Ozturk were recently imprisoned for their pro-Palestine views. Badar Khan Suri, a Georgetown graduate student, was jailed on the same accusations.
Students have rallied and spoken out against "Israel's" attack on Gaza, which has killed over 50,000 people and destroyed the strip since 2023.
According to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, some 300 student visas have been withdrawn, as he brazenly declared that "every time I find one of these lunatics, I take away their visas."
