The Trump administration cancels 5 international student visas at the UCSD

The Trump administration has canceled the F-1 visas of five international students at UC San Diego, adding the school to the growing list of universities in the country where the government takes such measures.

“The federal government did not explain the reasons for these layoffs,” said Chancellor Pradeep Khosla in an opinion on the campus posted shortly before 9 p.m. Friday. “Students were informed and we work directly with them to provide support.”

Khosla said that another UCSD student had been detained on the border earlier this week, denied having entered and expelled in their country of origin. The university has not provided more details.

“Because of the laws on the privacy of students, we are unable to comment beyond that at the moment,” said Matt Nagel, director of communications for the UCSD on Saturday.

The UCSD is the sixth largest research university in the country and has long been a magnet for international students. Nearly 7,200 of its 44,256 students come from other countries, mainly to obtain diplomas in the STEM fields. The number has slipped in recent years largely due to the tension between the United States and China.

Khosla, an engineer born and grew up in India, was one of the strongest supporters of the University of California system to recruit foreign students.

Terry Gaasterland, principal teacher of biology, said on Saturday: “Fortunately, we have solid distance learning policies and mechanisms (which international students could be able to use). I hope that students will be able to finish their spring district. ”

The five international students who lost visas at the UCSD were part of more than a dozen who was invited to leave the country by the Trump administration, the Los Angeles Times report. The other students are at UCLA and Stanford.

A statement from the University of California implied that students from other campuses also revoked their visas but did not offer more details.

The press release indicates that the UC is “aware that international students from several of our campuses have been affected by recent layoffs of SEVIS”, referring to the database of the information system for visitors to students and visitors to the US government.

“This is a fluid situation, and we continue to monitor and assess its implications for the UC community and those affected. We are committed to doing what we can to support all members of our community when they exercise their rights under the law. By doing, the university will continue to follow all the applicable state and federal laws. ”

The spokesperson for the President’s UC office, the central administrative operation that works with all campuses and manages the relations of the federal government, did not immediately respond to the request of the Times for more details.

The actions are part of the cancellations of mass visa which seem to take place on the campuses across the country on Friday and surprised the school administrators.

While the actions of the Trump administration to cancel students’ visas and stop students last month targeted pro-Palestinian activists, the reasons for these changes were not clear.

A representative of students for justice in Palestine at the UCSD said that the group was trying to obtain more information on the people affected to determine if students demonstrators.

Last month, the Trump administration began to revoke student visas on high-level campuses, notably Columbia, Cornell, George Washington, Tofts and other universities in which the affected students were anti-Semitic and aligned with terrorists because of their writings or pro-Palestinian demonstrators.

The administration has accused students of supporting Hamas, which the United States designates as a terrorist organization, and says that it threatens national security and foreign policy in the United States. Students argue that their rights to freedom of expression in support of the Palestinians are trampled on.

Affairs, some of which led to immigration arrests, take place in the federal courts. Several students are held in immigration holding establishments.

The administration also began to cancel the visas for students who were not involved in the pro-Palestinian demonstration but who had other violations of their files. For example, officials said this week that the Visa of a student from the University of Minnesota had been dismissed in March due to a driving incident in 2023 during which he pleaded guilty.

Speaking on March 27 during a visit to Guyana, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States had revoked 300 visas and would continue its assessments.

“We do it every day. Each time I find one of these madmen, I remove their visa,” said Rubio, referring to the student demonstrators. “I hope that at some point, we exhaust ourselves because we got rid of everyone, but we are looking for these crazy people every day who tear things up.”

Rubio said the government had canceled “mainly student visas” and “some visitors’ visas”. The group included cases “unrelated to all the demonstrations” which have to do with “a potential criminal activity”.

At the UCSD and many other campuses, the Trump administration has not communicated visa changes to universities. Instead, the cancellations were discovered while university officials checked Sevis, a student database as part of the Department of Internal Security which lists the international statutes of students.

International students generally have two certifications that allow them to come to the United States and study.

Student visas give individuals permission to enter the United States while “Student status” confirms that a person is registered in prices and respects other restrictions, such as employment of employment. The visas are granted and revoked by the State Department. Student status is maintained in Sevis.

As part of previous administrations, students who had canceled entry visas were generally authorized to remain legally in the United States to study. If they left the United States and wanted to return, they should renew their visas. The current actions of the Trump administration seem to modify both the visa and the status of the students.

Schools with large international populations generally have campus centers devoted to helping students and teachers with visas, housing and other areas, including the maintenance of Sevis.

Originally published: April 5, 2025 at 4:08 p.m.