1 week Ago
At least 17 international students and recent graduates at the University of Utah have had their visas revoked — receiving letters from President Donald Trump’s administration instructing them to immediately “self-deport.” The state’s flagship school disclosed the number for the first time Tuesday, confirming the revocations started early last week and continued through the weekend, spurring confusion and fear. It’s one of the largest tallies, so far, for a single university since the federal government began its nationwide efforts to terminate students’ legal residency status.
A spokesperson for Weber State University in Ogden confirmed another five students there have also seen their visas revoked. And Snow College in central Utah reported two students. In total, about 300 visas for international students and recent graduates have been terminated across the country, according to an announcement from U.
S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio . Those have spanned from private schools, like Harvard University, to public schools, like Ohio State University and the University of California system.
According to a copy obtained by The Salt Lake Tribune of a letter sent to U. students, it says: “Remaining in the United States without a lawful immigration status can result in fines, detention, and/or deportation. It may also make you ineligible for a future U.
S. visa. Please note that deportation can take place at a time that does not allow the person being deported to secure possessions or conclude affairs in the United States.
” It also says the student, if deported, may be sent somewhere that is not their home country. It advises them to leave voluntarily instead and reapply at a later time for a new visa. The Tribune has reached out to each of the state’s eight public colleges and universities to understand the impact in Utah.
As of late Tuesday, only the U., Weber State and Snow had provided counts, putting the total at 24 for the state. About half of the impacted students at the U.
are from China; the others from the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Some are freshmen. Weber State and Snow didn’t immediately have more information.
The U. is likely to be the most impacted in the state by the federal effort to target international student visas. The school has the highest number of enrolled international students, at 3,138 this past fall, as well as the highest percentage overall, with international students making up 9% of the student population.
That’s largely because the U. recruits worldwide for its renowned medical and research programs — which have also been the focus of funding cuts by the Trump administration. Weber State has 832 international students , landing at about 3% of its total enrollment.
There are about 300 international students at Snow, for 5% of the student body. The Tribune has also contacted the state’s two main private schools — Brigham Young University and Westminster University. BYU didn’t immediately respond, but a spokesperson for Westminster said the school has been in touch with its international students and “to our knowledge we do not have any students whose visas have been revoked.
” There are about 75 international students at the small Salt Lake City school. Overall, there are more than 9,000 international students combined across the 10 main public and private higher education institutions in the state. The students affected at the U.
at this point are a mix of undergraduate and graduate students, as well as recent graduates, with F-1 visas ; there are 3,733 total connected to the school who could be impacted. The university is not aware of any employed scholars or researchers who have had their visas revoked; there are about 370 individuals with those J-1 visas there. Like most schools, the U.
is also unaware of what’s driving the decisions. Most of the students affected do not have criminal records. Some have had some traffic infractions.
Another was arrested and accused of trying to climb a fence at Dugway Proving Ground; The Tribune could not immediately obtain more information on that case. Outside of that, there doesn’t appear to be any direct cause. Some of the letters that have gone out only list the reason as “otherwise failing to maintain status.
” The Trump administration has been targeting students nationwide who participated in a wave of pro-Palestine protests last spring. That included detaining a Columbia University student, Mahmoud Khalil , who is a green card-holder and who led protests on his campus. And Rubio has directed staff to comb through social media posts for anything pro-Palestine and anti-Israel to find cases.
At the U., no cases seem to be connected to the protest and later encampment on campus last April, where police came in wearing riot gear and 21 individuals were ultimately arrested. No one has been charged.
The school’s International Student and Scholar Services is reaching out to each affected student individually to support them. The office has also sent out resources, generally, to all international students, with information on how to remain in good standing and legal resources to contact, if needed. It states: “We are committed to keeping you informed and supported as we navigate these changes together.
” The office also recommends that all international students carry copies of their I-94 record, visa documentation and passport stamps with them at all times. Staff there are advising that students not leave the country if they don’t need to. “Although there are no current travel bans, new travel restrictions or policy changes may be implemented with little or no warning, which could affect your ability to reenter the U.
S.,” the message notes. The U.
has offered counseling services, too, for those distressed by the situation. And its international services office can be reached at [email protected] or 801-581-8876.
The students here and across the country have all had their visas revoked and their records in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, or SEVIS, terminated. That system is maintained by the U.S.
Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, allowing federal officers to track whether a student has legal status. Students have to meet a series of requirements to get a visa. That includes proving admission to a U.
S. school, filing an application and being interviewed. They also must show they have financial support for their studies and stay in good academic standing.
Visas typically can be revoked if a student isn’t maintaining their full-time enrollment status, violates work agreements or is deemed a security risk. In the past, when a student’s visa has been revoked, they have stayed in the SEVIS system and been allowed to finish their studies before leaving the country. The Trump administration, though, has quietly taken that additional SEVIS termination step, with little notice to schools on which students’ records have been terminated.
Schools are now monitoring the system themselves so they can inform students if their status has changed. Trump has also instructed immigration officers that they can enter previous “sensitive locations,” such as schools and hospitals, to make arrests. A student group at the U.
, Mecha — which is largely led by and for students of color — organized the pro-Palestine protest on campus last spring. It packed the school’s board of trustees’ meeting Tuesday to call for the school to become a “sanctuary campus,” not allowing immigration officers to step foot there. An accompanying petition has garnered more than 1,000 signatures.
As a public institution, however, the school cannot legally block federal officers from entering its grounds. On its website explaining recent federal changes, the U. notes, though, that its officers “do not have any agreements with ICE and do not expect to be called upon to enforce immigration law.
”.
