From deporting pro-Palestine protestors, US President Donald Trump’s administration is now cracking down on international students, including Indians, for minor offenses such as speeding tickets. At least 147 students have been stripped off their visas in the last few days, The New York Times reported.
Further, according to reports, students from various public and private campuses including UC Berkeley, Minnesota State University, Stanford, the University of Kentucky, UCLA, UC San Diego, Ohio State, the University of Tennessee, and the University of Oregon have had their Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) record terminated.
This essentially means that their status in the US is no longer valid. SEVIS is a database maintained by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to track immigrants on the F-1, J-1 and M-1 student visas.
Students who have had their SEVIS records terminated have received notification emails from their respective universities’ International Student Services (ISS). As per a copy of one such email reportedly accessed by TOI, the notification reads: “The termination of your SEVIS record means that you no longer have valid F-1 non-immigrant status. This means you are no longer lawfully allowed to stay in the US. Restated, your Form I-20 is no longer valid. Your EAD [Employment Authorisation Document] is no longer valid, and you no longer have authorisation to work.”
While criminal offences are grounds for termination of visas, something as minor as a traffic violation or wrongful parking does not normally lead to such measures, the NYT report also points out. These terminations have been made without clear justifications, the NYT quoted immigration lawyers as saying. Many of these minor offences date back to several years, the report further highlighted.
According to TOI, one student from Hyderabad said that they had received a speeding ticket two years ago in New York. The student, who reportedly has a temporary work permit issued under their F-1 visa, said that they had paid the fine and completed all formalities after the ticket was issued. They had only been issued a ticket and not arrested. The student has however been asked to self deport.
Another student from Hyderabad reportedly admitted that he had been arrested for drunk driving. The student, based in Missouri, told TOI that an ignition lock was installed in their car, which only allows a vehicle to start after a user has blown into a breathalyser and is sober. He added that he has also been submitting urine samples to prove to the police and that the alcohol tests have come back clean.
A third student who spoke to TOI said that he had forgotten to scan items worth USD 144 at a Walmart in Texas in 2023. He was arrested for shoplifting but the case was later dismissed on the grounds of good academic performances and because it had been his first offence, he reportedly said.
Similar cases are being reported across US universities. On March 28, Felipe Zapata Velásquez, a 27-year-old food and resource economics Columbian student from the University of Florida was arrested for driving with an expired license and registration, according to the Gainesville Police Department. He was handed over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials who reportedly began deportation proceedings on him immediately. Further, according to a news report dated April 7, Velásquez has not been heard from since he was taken to a deportation facility in Jacksonville in Florida.
On March 28, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on his way to Florida, “We’ve identified people that have criminal charges even while in the country, and still have active visas. Some are unrelated to any protests and are just having to do with potential criminal activity.”
Previously on March 25, Rubio had reportedly directed US embassies in other countries to scrutinise the social media activities of individuals applying for a visa to the US for posts or likes that criticise the US or Israel. Students continue to appear to be targeted for their political views.
As the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said in a statement, “Rümeysa Öztürk, a PhD Turkish scholar at Tufts University, was grabbed, arrested, and detained in Somerville, Massachusetts by plainclothes ICE agents in apparent retaliation for a Tufts Daily op-ed she co-authored last year.” ACLU also says that Öztürk was taken across state lines to a Lousianna court, more than 2000 kilometres away, in the American south—a region known for its racist history that remains a Republican stronghold among its white residents. This was done despite a Massachusetts court ordering the US government not to remove Öztürk from the state, ACLU further pointed out.
Some universities have come forward with statements of support for the affected students. For instance, UC Berkeley said in a statement that, “These actions create an uncertain and challenging environment for our campus community. Your university supports, without reservation, the right and ability of immigrant and international students, staff, and faculty to participate fully in the campus experience.”