Washington [US], April 7: The US Department of Homeland Security this week revoked the student visas of two students from the University of Massachusetts at Boston (UMass Boston), as well as five students from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst (UMass Amherst).
Five members of the UMass Boston community who have just completed their graduate studies are in a similar situation, according to the Universal Hub website yesterday (Vietnam time).
Immigration officials did not notify either school of the cases, according to emails from UMass Boston President Marcelo Suarez-Orozco and UMass Amherst President Javier Reyes. Suarez-Orozco said UMass Boston's Office of Global Programs discovered the cases by closely monitoring the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) database.
A UMass Amherst spokesperson said there was "no reason to believe that the visa revocation was related to campus-based activities." Reyes added that the school is working with the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office and advised international students to contact the school immediately if they receive any contact from federal authorities .
NBC News reported yesterday that the University of California confirmed that its international students had their visas revoked. However, the university did not mention how many international students were affected across its 10 campuses across the state of California. Other universities that discovered that ICE had quietly revoked their student visas include Fordham University in New York City, Cornell University in New York, Minnesota State University, Arizona State University, North Carolina State University, the University of Oregon, the University of Texas and the University of Colorado.
Columbia University announced that the New York Police Department has added 36 patrol officers to its campus, according to Reuters. These officers have the authority to execute arrest warrants and use force against individuals who commit crimes or commit harassment on campus.
In another development, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington was revoking all visas issued to South Sudanese passport holders and stopping issuing new visas to the country. This is the first time the US government has applied such measures to a specific country since President Donald Trump began his second term in January.
The reason is that the transitional government in South Sudan has not promptly accepted citizens deported by the US. Secretary of State Rubio said that Washington will reconsider the visa issue after South Sudan fully cooperates with the US on the issue of receiving repatriated citizens.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
