Scores of international students at top US universities have had their student visas revoked in recent days as part of the Trump administration’s decision to deport international students involved in pro-Palestinian protests.
On Sunday, the Harvard International Office revealed that the visas of three Harvard students and two recent Harvard graduates had been revoked. The university reportedly learned of the revocations during a routine records review and subsequently notified the students and referred them to legal assistance.
Harvard added that it was not aware of "the details of the revocations or the reasons for them, but we understand that comparable numbers of students and scholars in institutions across the country have experienced similar status changes in roughly the same timeframe."
It added that it values its international students and wants to continue supporting them.
Stanford University revealed on Friday that four students and two recent graduates have had their student visas revoked. The university similarly learned of the revocations during a routine check of the SEVIS database.
The student visas of six students who attended the University of California, Berkeley, were also revoked, according to the university's statement on Sunday. This includes two undergraduate students, two graduate students, and two alumni.
Across California, five additional students had their visas revoked at the University of California, San Diego; 12 were revoked at the University of California, Davis; and 12 at UCLA.
"The federal government has not explained the reasons behind these terminations," UC Davis said in a statement.
"We recognize that these actions are distressing for many in our campus community. We expect this situation to remain fluid, and we continue to closely monitor and assess its implications."
Trump's executive order
In January, US President Donald Trump issued an executive order threatening to revoke the visas of students who participated in pro-Palestinian protests during the Israel-Hamas War. More recently, on March 27, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the government had revoked the visas of 300 international students studying in the United States.
"It might be more than 300 at this point. We do it every day. Every time I find one of these lunatics, I take away their visas," Rubio said at a press conference in Guyana.
The Jerusalem Post reported on Sunday that five students' visas were revoked at the University of Massachusetts.