Four University of Michigan students have had their visas revoked by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security — and at least one has left the country at the recommendation of school officials — amid a nationwide crackdown on international college students in the United States.
The visa revocation occurred Friday and follows a recent decision from federal officials to strip some international students across the country of their legal residence and subsequent orders from the Department of Homeland Security for these students to leave the country.
One student at U-M, whose location and identity is being protected by university officials, fled the country after their visa was revoked, according to emails obtained by the Detroit Free Press.
On Saturday night, Jonathan Massey, the dean at U-M’s Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, sent an email to his colleagues regarding the student’s departure.
“Yesterday, as a result of government action, a Taubman College M.Arch student left the country in consultation with the U-M International Center recommendation,” Massey wrote.
Massey did not offer many details about the student or the departure but indicated that Taubman College is “committed to ensuring this affected student will complete their degree.”
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Massey could not be reached for comment.
Kay Jarvis, the director of public affairs at U-M said in an emailed statement to the Free Press that four students had their visas revoked by DHS.
“Administrators have contacted these students to advise them of potential consequences of this action,” Jarvis said.
Officials at U-M did not clarify Sunday if the architecture student who left the country was the only student to leave following the decision from DHS to revoke their visas.
International students at U-M are not the only students targeted in the federal crackdown. On April 4 — the day the U-M architecture student left the country — reports emerged that the Trump administration had stripped legal residencies of international students at universities across the country, including the University of Minnesota, University of California Davis and Central Michigan University.
According to BridgeMichigan, several students at CMU saw their visa status quietly revoked by federal agencies on Friday.
Ari Harris, a spokesperson for CMU, told Bridge that it seems students affected by visa revocation are left with two choices: they can leave the country or reapply to regain their visa and hope they are approved.
The move comes amid a two-month spree by federal agencies — at the behest of the Trump administration — seeking to remove international students from the country. In the last two months, several international students at colleges nationwide have been detained or deported by federal officials.
At first, the crackdown seemed to be aimed at politically active students — especially pro-Palestine protesters. Now, as more students receive orders from federal officials to leave the country, the scope is widening to include international students who are suspected of committing infractions other than protesting.
On March 28, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters that his office was revoking visas “every day.”
“If you are in this country on a student visa and are a participant in (protest) movements, we have a right to deny your visa … We are not going to be importing activists into the United States. They’re here to study. They’re here to go to class. They’re not here to lead activist movements that are disruptive and undermine the – our universities,” Rubio said.
Rubio expanded what constitutes a visa-revokable offense: “Some are unrelated to any protests and are just having to do with potential criminal activity.”
It is unclear if the students who lost their visas Friday were involved with recent protest movements at the university.
Contact Liam Rappleye: LRappleye@freepress.com
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Department of Homeland Security revokes 4 U-M student visas; at least 1 flees US
Reporting by Liam Rappleye, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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