The International Center pictured on July 7, 2020.
Some international students at Michigan State University have had their visas revoked by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, a university spokesperson confirmed Monday afternoon.
"The Office for International Students and Scholars is aware of international students at MSU whose visas have been revoked and is working directly with those students to provide available support," spokesperson Amber McCann wrote in a text message.
The announcement comes amid the Trump administration’s continued crackdown on legal and illegal immigration. Colleges and universities across the country have reported that their international students’ visas and legal residencies have been terminated by the federal government, sometimes without students or schools being notified.
The Trump administration’s termination of hundreds of visas represents an aggressive use of the federal government’s power to cancel student visas at will. Traditionally, international students have lost their legal status by breaking the rules of their visa program or by having their grades fall below good academic standing. In recent weeks, however, the federal government has used visa termination to target students suspected of participating in pro-Palestinian protests.
4,923 international students were enrolled at MSU in spring 2024, according to the most recent data from the university.
When a student visa — typically classified as F-1 or M-1 — is terminated, that student is required to leave the country immediately. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are also allowed to investigate to confirm the student’s departure, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
Officials at Central Michigan University announced Friday that "several" current and former international students had their legal right to be in the U.S. revoked. Two days later, the University of Michigan reported that the federal government had revoked the visas of four students — leading to at least one UM student fleeing the country. Two students at Grand Valley State University have also had their visas revoked, a school spokesperson said.
CMU only became aware of the visa terminations during a routine check of the Student Exchange and Visitor Information System, or SEVIS, a Department of Homeland Security database containing information about international students. The school said it has no power to reverse the department’s decisions, nor can CMU’s Office of General Counsel provide legal guidance or assistance to affected students.
McCann wrote that MSU’s Office for International Students and Scholars is monitoring SEVIS and will contact students if their records are terminated.
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