Five international students at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst have had their visas revoked and their student status ended by the federal government, according to an email sent to the school community Friday night.
UMass Chancellor Javier Reyes said the school was never notified by the federal government that the five students’ legal status had been terminated and only became aware due to proactive checks by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) database.
“I want to stress how important our international community is to the vitality of our campus and assure every international student and scholar at UMass of our unwavering support as we confront this new reality,” Reyes wrote.
Reyes says the school is working to connect the students, who have not been identified, with on- and off-campus resources, including “personal outreach from leadership within the Office of the Provost, Student Affairs and Campus Life, and the Office of Global Affairs.”
The announcement from UMass comes after a Tufts University doctoral student was taken by immigration officials as she walked along a street in the Boston suburb of Somerville on March 25.
Reyes said revocations at UMass and Tufts are troubling because some of the students’ alleged incidents are as minor as off-campus traffic violations and student statuses under previous administrations were not immediately canceled due to revoked visas. Under the Trump administration, some student statuses are being revoked within hours of the visa’s termination, Reyes described.
Reyes says the only way international students are informed that their visas are revoked is through the email they used to apply for their F-1 or other non-immigrant visa.
“Attracting students from every corner of the globe, higher education in the United States has always been the envy of the world,” Reyes said. “Like so many others, I came to the United States to study through the student visa program. We came to better ourselves, better our communities, and better the country that welcomed us as scholars.”
Reyes added that UMass is working closely with the governor’s office, the attorney general, and legislator “to ensure that we remain true to our mission and that our legacy as a global campus lives on.”
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