The Trump administration revoked more than 600 international visas from students nationwide, effectively ending their student eligibility statuses and leaving them more vulnerable to detention or deportation. As of April 8, approximately 50 of those directly affected are University of California (UC) students and recent UC graduates.
UCI Chancellor Howard Gillman confirmed in an April 7 statement that “a small number of current students and recent graduates on Optional Practical Training (OPT) have been affected.” Gillman has not confirmed how many have been impacted.
An F-1 visa allows international students to enter and remain in the country as full-time students at an academic institution as long as they follow specific guidelines. The OPT program serves as a temporary employment program directly related to an F-1 student’s area of study.
According to a data dashboard from the UCI Office of Inclusive Excellence, international students make up 12.3% of undergraduates and 30.1% of graduate students at UCI in the 2024-25 academic year.
In his statement, UC President Michael Drake confirmed that “the government has not coordinated with UC leaders on their decisions or provided advance notice to us but has indicated in government databases that the terminations were due to violations of the terms of the individuals’ visa programs.”
Sameer Ashar, a UCI clinical professor of law, discussed the “unprecedented” nature of the revocations, which failed to inform either the student or the university of their occurrence and basis.
“In some cases, the State Department is relying on old convictions or citations, so any touchpoints with the criminal legal system are being used to justify revocations,” Ashar told New University.
Ashar also said that the federal government is “testing limits” in the visa, green card and citizen categories, and that it is “pushing to see how much cruelty they can inflict in each of these categories.”
Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) at UCI posted on Instagram on April 5 alleging five UCI students have experienced revocations. Mark Gradoni, a fifth-year doctoral candidate in the history department, told New University that based on faculty correspondence and connections to labor unions such as United Auto Workers, they “still think the number at [UC] Irvine is five.” New University is unable to verify that number.
Ashar discussed several reasons why UCI administration may not be able to share an exact number, including student privacy concerns, the Trump administration’s shock mechanism and UCI’s dependence on federal funding.
Gradoni shared thoughts on the lack of transparency from the UCI administration.
“The silence from the [UCI] Chancellor’s Office and refusal to even name the number of students affected is probably directly — it directly links back to both a desire to make sure that we cannot resist this and that we don’t appropriately mobilize to fight back against it. And also, they — I don’t think they take this seriously,” Gradoni told New University.
UCLA’s Daily Bruin reported that UCLA students whose visas were revoked had previously been arrested. New University is unable to verify the direct reasons behind UCI’s visa revocations.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke about the F-1 visa revocation and arrest of Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish Tufts University doctoral student.
“If you apply for a student visa to come to the United States and you say you’re coming not just to study, but to participate in movements that vandalize universities, harass students, take over buildings and cause chaos — we’re not giving you that visa,” Rubio said on C-SPAN.
Gilman wrote that “while the numbers are fluid, none of these cases are connected to campus disciplinary processes.” New University contacted Assistant Vice Chancellor of Communications and Media Relations Michael Uhlenkamp via email on April 8 seeking clarification on whether misdemeanor convictions related to campus protest activity were cited as a reason. Uhlenkamp did not have additional information to share.
Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer charged 49 individuals with misdemeanors last fall “for failing to disperse after a University of California, Irvine police deemed a May 15, 2024, protest on the school’s campus to be an unlawful assembly.”
Malik Alrefai, a fourth-year political science major who was detained and charged by Spitzer, discussed how it seems his sacrifices — and his parents’ sacrifices — are “just out in flames now” because of Trump’s actions.
“When I can wake up in the morning, turn on the news and watch a student that is similar to myself, a hijabi student from Turkiye, here on a green card, here on a visa, just flat out be abducted by masked thugs in broad daylight, … it kind of signals to me — and I think it should signal to other people in more privileged positions than myself… first they come for us, then they come for you,” Alrefai told New University.
Immigration experts say that international students on F-1 visas have the same basic legal protections as US citizens, including those protecting free speech and the right to self-expression.
“The First Amendment applies to all persons in the United States,” Ashar told New University. “The question is whether courts will restrain the administration from what it’s trying to do on the basis of speech activities and whether they will close off First Amendment protections for certain categories of people.”
Ashar discussed ways universities can support those impacted, such as enrolling them remotely.
“Look, at best case, universities will fight this system of revocation through litigation and public and political advocacy,” Ashar said. “Universities will be kind of forthright and vigorous in their defense of their students. Unfortunately, most universities are not doing that.”
At a recent campus protest held by SJP and UCI Divest on April 8, SJP spokesperson Masih Noorzai made a call to UCI administration.
“They should [condemn] the government for their actions,” Noorzai told New University. “They should provide more effective resources. They should make UCI a sanctuary campus, and that is what many schools in this country are fighting for.”
Alrefai, who is a U.S. citizen, described the fear, stress and vulnerability students are facing.
“Being in the U.S. is not really an option, and I think that’s something that I’m sure many other people in my position — whether it’s other fellow arrestees, whether it’s people on visas, student visas that have had them revoked or that threat looms over their head — I’m sure they can probably relate to just as much, if not even more so,” Alrefai told New University.
Hong Pham, the Associated Students of UCI international senator, wrote in an email to New University that she is “continuing to follow up with the International Center to seek further clarification” on the situation.
New University contacted the UCI International Center and has not received a response as of April 14. Anteaters can follow immigration policy updates on the UCI International Center’s website.
Got a tip? Email news@newuniversity.org.
Camelia Heins is a News Staff Writer. She can be reached at cheins@uci.edu.
Annia Pallares zur Nieden is a Features Staff Writer. She can be reached at anniap@uci.edu.
Edited by Jaheem Conley.
Editor’s Note:
This article was corrected to omit a previous unconfirmed statement that UCI students who had received visa revocations were from South Asian countries.