1 week Ago
Oklahoma State University and other colleges around the country have confirmed some of their international students' visas are being revoked unexpectedly, causing alarm over what appears to be a new level of government scrutiny. According to the OSU student newspaper, the O'Colly, reporting Tuesday from a Faculty Council meeting , eight students had their immigration records terminated by the U.S.
government. Visas can be canceled for a number of reasons, but college leaders say the government has been quietly terminating students' legal residency status with little notice to students or schools. That marks a shift from past practice and leaves students vulnerable to detention and deportation.
People are also reading...
Update: Apparent tornado damage visible in Owasso early this morning Owasso family takes stock of destruction after early morning tornado Brent Venables on OU football’s NIL: ‘Over half of our roster making six figures plus’ Berry Tramel: Why Jimmy Gasso is coaching softball at Mid-America Christian Ex-police officer changes part of story about chase that killed motorcyclist in Tulsa JT Gasso subs in for Patty Gasso and Sooners have fun in run-rule rout of St. Thomas New restaurant continues legacy of Tulsa's first sushi chef: Mr. Nobu's Sushi Gov.
Stitt orders state agencies to stop enforcing certain laws in latest executive order Work begins next week on 'traffic henge' at I-44-U.S. 75 interchange Texas A&M's Bucky McMillan hire ought to mean Porter Moser is sticking with OU Bixby school board selects insider to succeed Rob Miller as superintendent Ginnie Graham: Oklahoma's mental health and substance abuse agency seems to be imploding What did Porter Moser say about his OU future with Texas A&M job open? Mason’s Monday Mailbag: What grade did I give OU football’s offseason so far? Reading Partners to end; TPS reducing sites served by City Year, Growing Together The list of colleges that have discovered students have had their legal status terminated includes Harvard, Stanford, Michigan, UCLA and Ohio State University.
The Trump administration has targeted students who had been involved with pro-Palestinian activism or speech, with a few high-profile detentions of students including Mahmoud Khalil, a green card holder who was a leader of protests at Columbia University. But more schools are seeing visas stripped from students with no known connection to protests. In some cases, past infractions such as traffic violations have been cited.
Some colleges say the reasons remain unclear to them — and they are seeking answers. According to the O'Colly, political activity was cited for just one of the eight OSU students whose visas were revoked. Many college officials and students have only found out about the changes when they have checked a federal database and seen changes to an individual's immigration status.
How do student visas work? Students in other countries must meet a series of requirements to obtain a student visa, usually an F-1. After gaining admission to a school in the U.S.
, students go through an application and interview process at a U.S. embassy or consulate abroad.
Students on an F-1 visa must show they have enough financial support for their course of study in the U.S. They have to remain in good standing with their academic program and are generally limited in their ability to work off-campus during their academic program.
Entry visas are managed by the State Department. Once they're in the U.S.
, international students' legal status is overseen by the Student and Exchange Visitor Program under the Department of Homeland Security. Leaders at many colleges learned the legal status of some of their international students had been terminated when they checked a database managed by Homeland Security. In the past, college officials say, visas typically were revoked after schools updated the government when students fell out of status.
Historically, students who had their visas revoked were allowed to keep their legal residency status and complete their studies. The lack of a valid visa only limited their ability to leave the U.S.
and return, something they could reapply for with the State Department. But if a student has lost residency status, they must leave immediately or risk detention by immigration authorities. This is a developing story.
Check tulsaworld.com for updates..
