- Over 1,800 students from almost 300 institutions are known to have had their legal status changed to date – although the true number may be much higher.
- The terminations and revocations have been linked to expressing pro-Palestinian views, although the reasons for some remain unclear.
- Some students have seen their student status stripped from them for legal infractions as small as minor traffic offences.
As of April 23, 1,818 known international students from over 270 US institutions have lost their F-1 or J-1 student status, as part of what critics are calling the Trump administration’s “Ideological Deportation Policy”.
The data, updated daily by Inside Higher Ed, is sourced directly from colleges and universities, though given it is based on institutions’ voluntary reporting amid heightened concerns about privacy and student protection, the real figure is likely to be significantly higher.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio initially framed the visa cancellations as part of the government’s clampdown on pro-Palestinian protests, and several early high-profile cases involved prominent activists including Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil.
In a speech on March 27, Rubio declared: “We give you a visa to come and study to get a degree, not to become a social activist that tears up our university campuses.”
At the time, 300 international students had seen their student and exchange visitor information system (SEVIS) records terminated or their student visas revoked.
With the number rising every day, sector leaders are increasingly alarmed by the lack of government transparency about the grounds for revocations, with several college campuses where there were no pro-Palestinian protests recording high levels of visa revocations.
“The Trump administration is focused on protecting our nation and our citizens by upholding the highest standards of national security and public safety through our visa process,” a State Department spokesperson told The PIE News on April 23.
“Because process is ongoing, the number of revocations is dynamic. The Department generally does not provide statistics on visa revocations,” they continued.
“The Department of State will continue to work closely with the Department of Homeland Security to enforce zero tolerance for aliens in the United States who violate US laws, threaten public safety, or in other situations where warranted.”
We give you a visa to come and study to get a degree, not to become a social activist that tears up our university campuses
Marco Rubio, US State Department
According to US immigration law firm, Fragomen, alleged reasons for the terminations have included political activism, prior arrests (even without conviction), legal infractions including minor traffic offences and alleged violations of visa terms.
The PIE understands that in the majority of cases, no rationale has been provided by the state department, with NAFSA claiming that “due process is woefully absent”.
In terms of nationality, there continues to be no clear pattern of which students are being targeted, with levels roughly corresponding to countries with the largest international student populations in the US.
The following graph illustrates the nationality breakdown of SEVIS record terminations based on NAFSA data as of April 18 when at least 1,400 individuals had been stripped of their student status by the US government.
Undergraduate, graduate and Optional Practical Training (OPT) students have been almost equally impacted, making up 30%, 35% and 33% of affected students respectively, according to NAFSA.
As it stands, the highest levels of status cancellations have been from public universities, with Arizona State University (ASU) recording the highest number with 100 student visas revoked as of April 23.
Of the top nine institutions, six are from Republican states and three Democratic.
According to Inside Higher Ed, 28% of the colleges impacted by the revocations are private institutions, with small liberal arts universities less likely to disclose student information.
As the data reveals, often visa revocation level does not correspond with the size of the international student body, seen at Northwest Missouri State University which has seen the second highest number of cancellations while only hosting 716 international students in 2024.
| Institution | Visas revoked as of April 23 | State | Public/Private | International student population (approx.) |
| Arizona State University (ASU) | 100 | Arizona | Public | 15,100 |
| Northwest Missouri State University | 43 | Missouri | Public | 716 |
| Northeastern University | 40 | Massachusetts | Private | 20,000+ |
| John Hopkins University | 37 | Maryland | Private | 6,724 |
| UC San Diego | 35 | California | Public | 8,134 |
| Dallas College | 34 | Texas | Public | 2,015 |
| University of North Texas | 27 | Texas | Public | 8,580 |
| University of Texas, Arlington | 27 | Texas | Public | 5,071 |
| Southeast Missouri State University | 24 | Missouri | Public | 1,153 |
The PIE understands that there are 28 active lawsuits that have been filed against the US government, including the case of AAUP v. Rubio, heard before a Massachusetts court on April 23 and no decision yet taken by the judge.
The case has attracted the support of 19 state attorney generals and over 500 colleges represented by the President’s Alliance seeking an injunction to halt the widespread arrest, detention and deportation of students and faculty.
