Sun Belt schools report changes to international student status as enforcement tightens, local media say
The Trump administration's controversial push to revoke student visas and remove foreign students from the US tracking system has reached universities across the Southern US, according to local media reports.
NBC News said Sunday that multiple public and private institutions in the Sun Belt confirmed changes to international students' immigration status, including revocations and removals.
Florida International University reported 18 F-1 visa cancellations. Texas A&M said 23 students were removed from the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System.
New Mexico State University said nine students lost their visas. The University of North Carolina reported six terminations.
Middle Tennessee State confirmed updates to the immigration records of six students. Rice University in Houston, Texas reported three student visa revocations and two for recent graduates.
The University of Texas at Austin said “multiple” students had their status changed, citing local broadcaster KXAN.
Although not all schools linked the actions to student protests, the moves align with a broader federal crackdown, particularly targeting students who have protested Israel's war in Gaza.
The Trump administration has in some cases equated criticizing Israel's policies with antisemitism, even as many Jews take exception with Tel Aviv's war on Gaza, which has killed over 50,000 people.
Many cases have been found where students' visas were revoked but the students were not told of the change.
In the controversial case of Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish doctoral student, after her visa was revoked without notice, plainclothes agents snatched her off the streets of a city near Boston and moved her into custody in another part of the country, far from her fellow students and friends.
- Harvard professors sue Trump administration over $9B federal funding review
The Harvard University chapter of the American Association of University Professors and its national body filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration over policy demands tied to federal funding, CNN reported Saturday.
Court documents show the lawsuit, filed Friday, includes a request for an emergency restraining order to stop the administration from suspending nearly $9 billion in funding to Harvard.
A university spokesperson told CNN that Harvard received a letter from a federal task force listing the demands.
With some schools, the Trump administration has threatened to cut off funding if the schools do not crack down on antisemitism, as Trump's team defines the term.
- Florida universities join state effort to support ICE immigration enforcement
Universities across Florida have signed agreements with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as part of the state's effort to support federal immigration enforcement, CNN reported Saturday.
The University of Florida confirmed Friday it signed an agreement allowing local law enforcement to perform immigration duties under ICE supervision.
“We can confirm that we have signed the 287(g) agreement,” a university spokesperson told CNN.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, the agreement authorizes local officers to carry out specific immigration functions under oversight by ICE, whose enforcement methods have drawn controversy.
In other states, in contrast, local law enforcement has said it will not support efforts by ICE.
Florida's governor is a Republican, the party of US President Donald Trump.
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