US: Harvard, UCLA, Stanford Among Universities Reporting Student Visa Revocations Over Pro-Palestine Stance or Unclear Reasons

Washington (Quds News Network)- Harvard University has confirmed that the student visas of five individuals, either currently enrolled or recent graduates, have been revoked due to their pro-Palestine stance or for unknown reasons.

These incidents are part of what appears to be mass targeting of international students by Trump’s administration over alleged violations of their visa or green card conditions, ranging from minor legal infractions to participating in pro-Palestine demonstrations. In other cases, the reason for the revocation is unknown or has not been provided by the administration.

Here are some of the colleges and universities that have been impacted, according to ABC News, based on non-exhaustive tallies provided by the respective HEIs:

Arizona State University: At least 8

Central Michigan University: 4 (current and former students)

Colorado State University: 6

Harvard University: 5 (three students and two recent graduates)

Kent State University: 3

Minnesota State University: 5

North Carolina State: 2

Ohio State University: 5

Stanford University: 6 (four current students and two recent grads)

University of California system: Unknown
Although an estimate has not yet been provided, the University of California system of schools has stated that its campuses — including the University of California Los Angeles, UC San Diego, UC Berkeley, UC Davis and UC Irvine — have been impacted.

University of Cincinnati: Unknown
The University of Cincinnati has reported a “small number” of impacted international students.

University of Colorado: 2

University of Kentucky: Unknown
The University of Kentucky has shared that a “small number” of its student body has been impacted.

University of Massachusetts Amherst: 5

University of Michigan: 4

University of Nevada, Las Vegas: 4

University of Oregon: 1

Crackdown on Pro-Palestine Activism

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said lately that the State Department may have revoked more than 300 visas of students.

During a press conference in Guyana, Rubio said the Trump administration was looking every day for “these lunatics”. His comments were in response to a question about Rumeysa Ozturk.

Ozturk is a 30-year-old Turkish national on a student visa in the US. She was detained by ICE agents on 25 March, who approached and physically restrained the Tufts University doctoral student and research assistant in Massachusetts.

The Department of Homeland Security and ICE have claimed that she was detained for “supporting” Hamas but have not publicly provided evidence for their allegations, and she has not been charged with any crime.

Ozturk was one of several authors of an opinion piece in the student newspaper, The Tufts Daily, published on 26 March 2024, entitled, “Try again, President Kumar: Renewing Calls for Tufts to Adopt March 4 TCU Senate resolutions”.

The opinion piece has been cited as a potential reason for her targeting since she hasn’t taken part in any pro-Palestinian protests, depsite the university president confirimng that the article didn’t violate any policies.

The op-ed criticized Tufts’ response to Senate resolutions. On March 4, the Tufts Community Union Senate passed 3 out of 4 resolutions demanding that the University acknowledge Israel’s genocide in Gaza, disclose its investments and divest from companies with direct or indirect ties to Israel.

“These resolutions were the product of meaningful debate by the Senate and represent a sincere effort to hold Israel accountable for clear violations of international law. Credible accusations against Israel include accounts of deliberate starvation and indiscriminate slaughter of Palestinian civilians and plausible genocide,” the authors of the piece wrote.

“It might be more than 300 at this point. We do it every day. Every time I find one of these lunatics, I take away their visas,” Rubio said.

“At some point, I hope we run out because we’ve gotten rid of all of them, but we’re looking every day for these lunatics that are tearing things up.”

Rubio confirmed that the State Department revoked Ozturk’s visa and said Washington would take away any visa that has been previously issued if students participated in actions such as “vandalizing universities, harassing students, taking over buildings, creating a ruckus”.

Ozturk is one of several foreign nationals connected to prestigious American universities who were arrested under the Trump administration for their pro-Palestine and anti-genocide activism.

In March, pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil was arrested by ICE. Khalil had been one of the leaders of pro-Palestinian encampment at Columbia University last spring.

He was taken from his student apartment building in lower Manhattan, and then to an immigration detention facility in Elizabeth, New Jersey, before being transferred to Louisiana.

In a post on Truth Social, US President Donald Trump described the arrest of Khalil as “the first arrest of many to come”.

“We know there are more students at Columbia and other Universities across the country who have engaged in pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity, and the Trump Administration will not tolerate it,” Trump said.

As he campaigned for a second term in the White House, Trump pledged to stop the pro-Palestinian demonstrations that erupted after Israel launched its deadly war on Gaza and deport any foreign students involved.

Upon taking office, he began to issue executive actions signalling he would carry out his threats.

“To all the resident aliens who joined in the pro-jihadist protests, we put you on notice: come 2025, we will find you, and we will deport you,” Trump said in a White House fact sheet.

“I will also quickly cancel the student visas of all Hamas sympathizers on college campuses, which have been infested with radicalism like never before.”

The Trump administration is reportedly targeting a $510m cut in federal contracts and grants to Brown University for alleged “antisemitism” on campus and reviewing their Diversity, Equity and Inclusion policies.

The school was among dozens warned in March that enforcement actions could be coming as the administration seeks to crack down on academic institutions.

It has become the fifth known and latest Ivy League university to potentially face a loss of their federal funding. In March this year, Columbia University became the first university to lose some federal funding when the Trump administration slashed $400m in federal funds.

In a press statement at the time, the agencies involved in reviewing the university said the funding cuts were due to “the school’s continued inaction in the face of persistent harassment of Jewish students”.

“Since October 7 [2023], Jewish students have faced relentless violence, intimidation, and anti-Semitic harassment on their campuses – only to be ignored by those who are supposed to protect them,” Secretary of Education Linda McMahon said in the press release.

The statement warned that the cancellations represent the first round of action and additional cancellations are expected to follow. Columbia University currently holds more than $5bn in federal grant commitments. The amount announced in March is almost eight times more than the amount the federal task force on antisemitism announced it was considering halting earlier.