DHS Revokes Various Student Visas Across the US

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has reportedly revoked various student visas for universities across the US due to undisclosed or unspecified reasons.

The Details: The universities affected include Harvard, Stanford, Michigan, Ohio State, and California, Los Angeles. The DHS has not publicly disclosed its reasons for the revocations, though media cited protests in support of Palestine as a potential provocation on the grounds of alleged antisemitism. Mahmoud Khalil of Columbia University and Rumeysa Ozturk of Tufts were both detained in late March for allegedly advocating for Hamas.

Key Quote: Secretary of State Marco Rubio previously commented, “… Buildings are being taken over… If you are in this country on a student visa and are a participant in those movements, we have a right to deny your visa.” He estimated then that around 300 student visas and counting had been revoked and announced Saturday that the US would be revoking all South Sudanese visas as well. 

For Context: Amidst the revocations, the Supreme Court decided Monday to allow the implementation of the Alien Enemies Act. Under the act, over 200 alleged Venezuelan gang members of Tren de Aragua were deported without due process in late March. Justices found that the migrants did not properly challenge their deportations in the correct location.

How The Media Covered It: Media across the political spectrum mentioned the ambiguity of the revocations. They also mentioned that two of the five Harvard revocations were for graduates. The Hill (Center bias) and Fox News (Right) both referenced statements from Rubio in which he called campus protests lunacy, but Fox News provided more of Rubio’s reasoning. Fox News used the term “anti-Israel,” while Associated Press (Left) and the Hill used “pro-Palestinian” (though the Hill did mention the antisemitism case against Harvard). Associated Press used more sympathetic language when referring to the “vulnerable” students and gave voice to immigrants and their supporters. 

Written by the AllSides staff (of humans). Learn more. Support our mission. Suggest an improvement to this summary.