Visas revoked for 5 international students at UMass Amherst

A spokesperson for the university said officials there have “no reason to believe that these revocations are connected to campus activism.”

Five international students attending UMass Amherst have had their visas revoked, according to a statement from the university.

"The university was not notified by federal authorities of these status revocations and only became aware as a result of proactive checks in the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) database," wrote Chancellor Javier Reyes in a statement to the school community.

Reyes did not identify the students or provide the reasons for the revocations. He did say they would connect students with resources. He also noted that in the past, if a student's visa was revoked their legal status in the United States was not immediately canceled. However in recent cases, statuses are being revoked within hours, leaving students at risk for deportation.

Students with a visa were warned that if it were to be revoked, notice would be sent to the email they used to apply, so they should monitor communications on those accounts, or if they used an agent or consultant, stay in touch with them.

The Trump administration has said they will target foreign-born students they view as a threat to national security, immigration provision that dates to the Cold War and gives the secretary of state the authority to deport noncitizens if their  activities pose “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences.”  However, in several of the reported cases, detained students have not been charged with a crime and their offense appears to be activism. This includes the two high-profile cases of Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk and recent Columbia University graduate Mahmoud Khalil.