A leading group of immigration lawyers in the United States says that a large number of foreign students are facing visa cancellations. This comes at a time when the US government, under President Donald Trump, is getting stricter with students over protests and online activity on university campuses.
The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) shared a report showing that out of 327 visa revocation cases they reviewed, half involved students from India.
“50 per cent of these students were from India, followed by 14 per cent from China,” the AILA report said.
According to AILA, students from South Korea, Nepal, and Bangladesh were also among those whose visas were revoked. The data, they explained, is just a small sample and doesn’t reflect the total number of students affected nationwide.
For the past few months, US government departments like the State Department and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have been reviewing the records of international students, especially those believed to be involved in protests or political activism.
Much of this process is believed to be automated, and some reports suggest that artificial intelligence (AI) tools are being used to scan students’ social media accounts for posts showing support for certain causes.
Because of this, even students who were not involved in any protests or without no criminal record have had their visas revoked.
In March, Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed that over 300 student visas had already been cancelled. He also introduced a new effort called the “Catch and Revoke” program, aimed at reviewing visa holders’ online activity and protest involvement.
The US government’s main concern appears to be students expressing support for Palestine during the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza. Authorities believe that few of these university campus protests have turned into antisemitic behavior.
While protests and activism are a big part of the crackdown, hundreds of students also lost their visas due to legal troubles, including violations unrelated to politics.
You might also be interested in – NASA builds first-ever quantum sensor for space to measure tiny gravity shifts
