MOSCOW, ID – Four international students at the University of Idaho have had their student visas revoked, a university spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, one student at the College of Idaho also had their visa revoked, said McKay Cunningham, the official who facilitates immigration regulations for student visa holders at the private liberal arts school in Caldwell.
The revocations come after Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned that students involved in activism or disruption of campus would have their status changed. More than 1,500 students have had their visa revoked nationally, Inside Higher Ed found.
“Once you’ve lost your visa, you’re no longer legally in the United States,” said Rubio, according to Inside Higher Ed. “If you come to the U.S. as a visitor and create a ruckus for us, we don’t want it.”
Initially, the many high-profile visa terminations were related to pro-Palestinian protests; however, the reasons for the less high-profile terminations that followed often remain unclear. Privacy laws around student records making learning about specific students difficult.
The College of Idaho said one former student’s I-20 form has been “summarily” terminated since President Donald Trump’s inauguration. An I-20 form is issued by a university or college and shows that a student has been accepted into an approved program. The form is a crucial part of getting an F-1 visa.
If an I-20 is terminated, an F-1 visa holder typically must leave the country within 15 days, Cunningham said. To protect the student’s privacy, the college declined to release any additional information. International students make up approximately 15% of the college’s student population, according to the C of I website.
The U of I learned of their students’ revocations by monitoring the Student Exchange Visitor Program (SEVIS) website and was unaware earlier this month if those students had been deported, according to Jodi Walker, a university spokesperson. The university has not issued any blanket guidance to international students, Walker said. According to university data, about 6.7% of the student population at U of I were international students this fall.
“The university always strives to help all its students achieve their academic goals; and does so within the laws and policies governing it,” Walker wrote in an email.
EdNews contacted all of the universities and colleges in Idaho to see if they had students who lost their visas.
North Idaho College had not had any of its 42 international students’ visas revoked as of Monday. Idaho State University, which had just over 360 international students this spring, had no impacted students as of Monday. Lewis-Clark State College has 56 international students, none of whom had their visas revoked Monday.
The College of Western Idaho, which has 19 international students, also had no students impacted. The College of Eastern Idaho does not have any international students because the college does not have the ability to support student visas.
This story was originally posted on IdahoEdNews.org.
