Anther batch of hundreds of students and recent graduates have seen their visas revoked by immigration officials, with some facing arrest. It is expected more will follow after United States President Donald Trump took office for a second time on 20 January 2025.
Many of the targets of the visa revocations and arrests are students who participated in pro-Palestine protests which erupted on campuses across the country in 2024 amid Israel’s brutal war on Gaza. Others are individuals with more indirect links to Palestine – or those who have shown support for Gaza on social media.
The Trump administration has a solid proof showing that these students spread anti-Semitism and pro-Hamas sentiment on campus – a claim students, lawyers and activists have all rebutted. Jewish activists and groups have been at the forefront of many of the most prominent protests in the US against the Gaza war.
Others have had visas removed after legal infractions – a speeding ticket or other traffic violations, for instance.
Exact estimates vary. At the higher end is the American Immigration Lawyers Association’s count, according to which more than 4,700 students have been removed from the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement-maintained database known as the Student and Exchange Visitor Information Systems (SEVIS).
Yet even more conservative tabulations point to a number comfortably more than 1,000. The National Association of Foreign Student Advisers (NAFSA) estimates that as of 17 April, there are reports of about 1,400 students who now face deportation.
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