Over the weekend, the University of California’s chaos and concerns drew attention at the University of California as campus officials showed that the Trump administration canceled visas for dozens of international students was unaware.
On Sunday, the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) confirmed that federal authorities revoked visas for 12 community members last week: six current students and six recent graduates. In the campus message, Prime Minister Julio Frenk hinted that the government did not notify UCLA in advance. He said the issues were found in a “regular review” of the database of immigrant students related to the Department of Homeland Security. The government transferred the student’s identity and canceled the visa from the State Council.
“The termination notice indicates that all terminations are caused by violations of the terms of the Personal Visa Program,” Frenke said in the campus information. “At present, UCLA has not yet realized that there are any federal law enforcement activities on campuses related to these terminations.”
He later told campus: “We recognize that these actions can bring great uncertainty and anxiety to our community. We want our immigrants and international UCLA students, faculty and faculty to know our ability to support you in working, learning, teaching and growing here.”
The University of California, Santa Cruz also said Sunday that the visas of its three students were terminated “without advance notice.”
“The federal government has not yet explained the reasons behind these terminations,” said the campus notice from principal Cynthia Larive. “We have notified these three students and contacted them directly to provide support.”
Other UC campuses – Berkeley, Davis and San Diego – Stanford announced the cancellation of student visas Friday and Saturday. At San Diego, a student was also detained at the border deportation, according to campus information from Prime Minister Pradeep Khosla.
A UC official told the Times that UC Irvine students were also affected by the sweep. No other details. The official spoke anonymously because they had no right to talk to the media. A UC Irvine spokesman did not respond to a request Sunday for more information.
The Trump administration has changed the status of students in Sevis, a system related to the Department of Homeland Security that schools use to provide information about whether foreign students participate in classrooms, comply with work restrictions or in good credibility.
Without valid admission status or visa, students can be open to law enforcement actions for their immigration. Federal immigration authorities are usually detained only if individuals are publicly dangerous or flight risk, but the Trump administration sometimes takes more aggressive action. The school has not reported to federal immigration authorities on campus.
An anonymous Orange County student filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration in Los Angeles federal court on Saturday, accusing their identity on an unnamed campus was illegally terminated. The lawsuit noted that the student’s only violation was “a smaller speeding ticket and misdemeanor alcohol-related driving conviction” and that the State Department was aware of the alcohol fee before renewing his visa.
The lawsuit says the government’s actions “appear to be aimed at coercing students, including plaintiffs, to abandon their studies and ‘self-substitution’.” “If the ICE believes that a student can be deported by a revoked visa, it has the right to initiate a dismissal process and file a lawsuit in court. However, it cannot abuse Sevis to circumvent the law, deprive students of status, and deport them without the process.”
As school leaders did not receive warnings about changes, employees are scrambling to identify affected students. There are several pulsation fluctuations every day. At UC Berkeley, the campus initially said Saturday that visas for four students were cancelled. Later, it revised the numbers twice and landed six.
Other campuses are still evaluating their international student enrollment rates.
USC officials declined to say whether student visas were canceled on campus, home to more than 17,000 international students, the largest concentration on any California campus. Students and faculty members said Sunday they hadn’t heard of the revocation.
A spokesman said Sunday at the University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, there was no visa action. A spokesman for UC Merced declined to say on Sunday whether the campus was affected, while representatives of UC Santa Barbara and UC Riverside did not respond to inquiries that day.
Visa revocations discovered since Friday have affected at least 45 California students and recent graduates in total. They include undergraduate, graduates and student visa personnel, as part of the “optional hands-on training”, a designation for use after graduation, providing temporary visa extensions to allow students to gain work experience.
A Homeland Security spokesperson did not respond to a request to provide the total number of affected campuses or individuals in California.
Nationwide, similar actions have affected students at Arizona, Colorado, Columbia, Harvard, North Carolina and several other universities since last week.
It is not clear why the Trump administration revoked its visa. In March, the Department of Homeland Security and state departments detained several foreign students, including Columbia University, including deportation. The actions are based on allegations that their pro-Palestinian protests are “family,” a radical group that the United States has designated as a terrorist organization – a threat to U.S. security and foreign policy. Many of these detentions are challenged in federal courts.
But many of the recent cancellations appear to have no contact with protesters, according to campus members.
“The termination may be due to recent or past interactions with law enforcement – from arrests to criminal or misdemeanor crimes,” said Syed Tamim Ahmad, a junior at UCLA, who is an international student representative for the student government. “Students received an email from the visa management system, but it was short. It simply informed them of the termination and quoted the reasons for the termination described by Severus. It also refers to their search for external legal counsel.”
Ahmed said he received the reason for the termination of the Dashew Center, the UCLA International Student Office. Sam Nahidi, director of the center, declined the Times’ request for an interview.
Past criminal cases have recently emerged at the University of Minnesota after a Turkish student was arrested in March. The Trump administration said the visa lawsuit against students was due to a 2023 drunk driving arrest, and he pleaded guilty. The student said in court documents that he followed the state-mandated driver’s plan after drinking.
“What is happening right now is fundamentally different than what has happened before,” said Ahilan T. Arulanantham, co-director of the Center for Immigration Law and Policy at the UCLA School of Law. “The government appears to be revoking visas, arresting and deporting students because the interaction is too small and has had any interest in the past.
A State Department spokesman refused to share details about California’s cancellation in a written statement to the Times.
The spokesman added that the U.S. “The tolerance for non-citizens who violate U.S. laws is zero. People who violate laws, including students, may face visa revocation, visa revocation and/or deportation. The State Department will continue to work closely with the Department of Homeland Security to manage and enforce U.S. visa and immigration laws.”
At UCLA, students and faculty are eager to help those who have lost their visa status. “Frozen Point Table” is circulating to guide students on how to deal with immigration and customs law enforcement. Students will also be directed to the UCLA area hotline, as well as legal aid from the UC Immigration Legal Services Center at the University of California, Davis.
On Sunday, UCLA’s anti-Palestine, anti-Arab and anti-Muslim racism faculty members also posted a letter to campus presidents asking for more assistance to international students.
The letter said, “It is urgent to take steps to protect UCLA international students.” It called on the university to “challenge the Department of Homeland Security’s failure to follow due process” to ensure admission to students whose visas have been cancelled and to provide those who leave the United States with the opportunity to complete their studies remotely.
