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      US government has revoked more than 600 student visas, data shows

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      More than 600 international students and recent graduates in the US have had their visas revoked or their legal status changed by the state department, according to data aggregated from around the country.The data, collected by Inside Higher Ed, shows that as of Thursday more than 100 colleges and universities have identified more than 600 cases of students whose immigration status was changed by the Trump administration. These institutions say that their students have lost their F-1 or J-1 student visas.Some of these cases were related to their activism and participation in student-led protests against the war in Gaza, and others were for “minor crimes”. Inside Higher Ed says that the majority of college officials say they’re unsure why the foreign-born students had their visas revoked or have yet to receive formal notification of the changes. Most have still not received any communications from immigration authorities.The compiled data set was based on public reports and direct correspondence, Inside Higher Ed says. The database, first published 8 April, will be consistently updated at least twice a day.Late last month, it was reported that the state department had revoked 300 or more student visas in the three weeks that its “Catch and Revoke” program was in operation.The initiative, newly launched by the state department, which says it is at least partly powered by artificial intelligence (AI), scrapes social media to find “foreign nationals who appear to support Hamas or other designated terror groups” and cancel their visas, according to reporting from Axios.The secretary of state, Marco Rubio, confirmed the scale of the March crackdown and referred to the student activists as “lunatics”. He told reporters during a visit to Guyana in South America when asked about the visa terminations: “Maybe more than 300 at this point” have lost their visas. “We do it every day, every time I find one of these lunatics.”It was increasingly clear that the abrupt visa cancellations are not limited to students who engage in pro-Palestinian activism. Students with minor non-criminal infractions, such as speeding tickets, were also targeted.The Guardian previously reported on an online data sheet created and updated by affected students that showed students from 50 universities reporting their visas were canceled around 4 April , with some tracing the cause to police citations or non-criminal offenses.Students at the University of Florida have planned a campus protest in support of Felipe Zapata Velázquez, 27, a Colombian student deported by the Trump administration following his arrest for alleged traffic violations.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionHis family said he was “undergoing a physical and emotional recovery process” in his home country after police arrested him on 28 March for offenses that included having an expired tag and suspended driver’s license, before turning him over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice).The Florida Democratic congressman Maxwell Frost accused authorities of “kidnapping” Velázquez, who held an F-1 student visa. “Felipe Zapata Velázquez is just the latest victim of Trump’s disgusting campaign against immigrants,” Frost said in a statement.Two other cases which received widespread attention were those of Mahmoud Khalil, a recent Columbia University graduate who led pro-Palestinian demonstrations on campus last summer, and Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish student at Tufts University who was arrested in apparent retaliation for an op-ed she wrote that was critical of Israel. Both are in Ice detention fighting their deportations on the grounds that their actions constituted free speech under the first amendment. More

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      The AP’s win against Trump shows principles still have power in America | Margaret Sullivan

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      Given the constant flow of bad news – recession nearing, markets tanking, federal agencies run amok – a victory in court for a news wire service might seem trivial.But the Associated Press’s win against the Trump administration this week is meaningful for two reasons. It underscores the judiciary’s commitment to the first amendment, and it suggests that standing up for one’s principles may not be just a gesture made in vain.Here’s what the US district court judge Trevor McFadden – a Trump appointee – had to say about the AP’s being denied access to White House news events because of the organization’s editorial decision to continue using the term Gulf of Mexico instead of Gulf of America:“The Court simply holds that under the First Amendment, if the Government opens its doors to some journalists – be it to the Oval Office, the East Room, or elsewhere, it cannot then shut those doors to other journalists because of their viewpoints. The Constitution requires no less.”The Trump administration is appealing the ruling. It is not clear that a higher court will not overrule McFadden.But what is clear is that Julie Pace, the AP’s top editor, was right when she made the argument in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece that more was at stake here than the name of a body of water. “It’s really about whether the government can control what you say,” Pace wrote.This administration wants to do that – and it is willing to punish those who don’t fall in line.Yet, courageous voices are out there. And sometimes, they make a difference.When Jaime Cook, the school principal in Sackets Harbor, New York, put out a heartfelt public statement about three students and their mother being abruptly taken to a Texas detention facility by federal agents, her words required the same kind of guts.“Our 3 students who were taken away by ICE were doing everything right,” Cook wrote. “They had declared themselves to immigration judges, attended court on their assigned dates, and were following the legal process. They are not criminals.”Others found their voices, too. In this tiny town of fewer than 1,400 people – which happens to be a vacation residence of the US “border czar”, Tom Homan – nearly 1,000 people came out to protest last weekend. This week, the mother and three children were on their way back home.Courage mattered.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionConsider, too, the words of the Princeton University president, Christopher Eisgruber, in an NPR interview about how that university plans to navigate the suspension of federal funding: “We make our decisions at Princeton based on our values and our principles.” When asked by a reporter whether that meant no concessions, as other universities have made to the Trump administration, Eisgruber responded with strength.“We believe it’s important to defend academic freedom, and that’s not something that can be compromised,” he said.Tim Wu, a professor at Columbia University, which took a far different approach by capitulating to Trump administration demands, compared the universities to two law firms, one of which has capitulated to Donald Trump’s bullying while the other has refused to do so.“Princeton is making us [Columbia] look like Paul Weiss to their Wilmer Hale,” Wu wrote.These cases have something in common: a line in the sand and the courage to defend it.The same was true of the former Department of Justice prosecutor Ryan Crosswell, testifying before Congress, as he explained why he felt compelled to resign recently after federal corruption charges against the New York City mayor, Eric Adams, were abruptly dropped. Too many lines had been crossed, he said; he had no choice.“The day after I resigned,” Crosswell testified, “my sister had her first daughter and I want my niece to know the same democracy that I’ve known. That’s worth any cost.”None of this is easy. After all, Trump and those around him are famously vindictive. It’s not hard to understand why law firms, universities, school officials, news organizations and so many others have decided to avoid the fight and to rationalize the decision to give in or remain silent.But those mentioned here chose to act on principle. In so doing, they have the power to inspire the rest of us, which is likely to be important in the long run.Do brave words or principled resignations or expensive, possibly fruitless lawsuits really accomplish anything? Will they keep America’s teetering democracy from falling off a cliff?Maybe not. But everyone who cares about fairness, freedom and the rule of law ought to be grateful nonetheless for these demonstrations of integrity. Amid the darkness, they cast some faint light along our treacherous path.

      Margaret Sullivan is a Guardian US columnist More

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      Judge gives Trump administration deadline to justify Mahmoud Khalil’s deportation

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      An immigration judge ruled on Tuesday that the Trump administration has until 5pm on Wednesday to present evidence as to why Mahmoud Khalil, the Palestinian activist and Columbia University graduate, should be deported. She said that if the evidence does not support deportation, she may rule on Friday on his release from immigration detention.Khalil, a green-card holder and leader in the pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University last year, was detained on 8 March. The Trump administration claims that his presence has adverse foreign policy consequences, an argument decried by his legal team as a blatant free speech violation. The government has not provided any evidence that he broke the law, a typical condition for revoking permanent residency.The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) can “either can provide sufficient evidence or not”, said the judge, Jamee Comans, from her courtroom in Jena, Louisiana. “If he’s not removable, I’m going to terminate this case on Friday.”A lawyer for DHS told the judge: “We have evidence we will submit.”During the hearing, Khalil sat beside an empty chair, his immigration attorneys and counsel appearing over video on a flatscreen TV. Behind him sat a handful of supporters, some of whom had been directed by security to remove keffiyehs. Khalil, in navy blue detention-issued clothes, sat calmly, sometimes fingering a set of prayer beads.The proceedings were delayed as Comans tried to pick the attorneys out of the nearly 600 people – media, supporters and observers – attempting to join the video call.“This is highly unusual,” began Comans, in reference to the number of people attempting to watch the hearing.“Your honor, I’d appreciate it if you could let my wife in,” Khalil said softly into the microphone. A moment later, the face of Khalil’s wife, Noor Abdalla, appeared on the screen.“Your honor, there is obviously a lot of public interest in this case, and we would appreciate if there could be online access” granted to the public, began Khalil’s immigration lawyer, Mark Van Der Hout. Comans denied this request and added, seeming frustrated, that she was “very, very close” to making the rest of the legal team appear in person as well.Van Der Hout said they had requested DHS’s evidence of the allegations more than two weeks ago and had not received a response. “We cannot plead until we know the specific allegations,” he added.The DHS also alleges that Khalil failed to disclose on his visa application that he had previously worked in a Syrian office of the British embassy and for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), before becoming a member of a pro-Palestinian activist group at Columbia.Van Der Hout requested to postpone a follow-up hearing Comans had set for Friday, noting: “We may have to depose the secretary of state” due to the nature of the charges against Khalil.Comans declined, telling him: “You’re in the wrong court for that.” Indicating she wanted to move the case along, she added: “I’m like you, Mr Van Der Hout: I’d like to see the evidence.”Apart from his immigration case, Khalil is challenging his detention in a separate case before a federal judge in New Jersey. More

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      Thousands sign petition urging Avelo airline to halt deportation flights for Ice

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      Several thousand people have signed a petition urging Avelo Airlines to halt its plans to carry out deportation flights in cooperation with the Trump administration.This comes as the budget airline company recently said it had signed an agreement to fly federal deportation flights for the administration from Mesa, Arizona, starting in May.Andrew Levy, the CEO of the Houston, Texas-based airline, said in a statement to the Associated Press that the company is flying for the US Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration Customs and Enforcement (Ice) agency as part of a “long-term charter program” to support the department’s deportation efforts.The flights, the company said, will use three Boeing 737-800 aircraft based out of Mesa Gateway airport.“We realize this is a sensitive and complicated topic,” Levy said in a statement to 12News KPNX in Arizona. “After significant deliberations, we determined this charter flying will provide us with the stability to continue expanding our core scheduled passenger service and keep our more than 1,100 crew members employed for years to come.”Recent job postings from the airline appear to advertise positions based in Mesa, Arizona.In one job listing for flight attendants, Avelo states that the “flights will be both domestic and international trips to support DHS’s deportation efforts” and that “Our DHS charter service may consist of local day trips and/or overnights.”A petition was launched by the New Haven Immigrant Heritage Coalition and as of Tuesday afternoon, it has garnered about 4,200 signatures.“We pledge to boycott the airline until they stop plans to profit off Ice flights that are tearing families and communities apart,” the petition reads.Individuals, including the mayor of New Haven, Connecticut – where Avelo Airlines said in December it has its largest base – have criticized the agreement.In a statement to the New Haven Independent, the mayor, Justin Elicker, a Democrat, called Avelo Airlines’ decision to run the charter operation for the deportation flights as “deeply disappointing and disturbing”.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotion“For a company that champions themselves as ​‘New Haven’s hometown airline,’ this business decision is antithetical to New Haven’s values,” he said.Elicker said that he had called Levy over the weekend ​to express his objection to the deal and urged him to reconsider.“Travel should be about bringing people together, not tearing families apart,” he added. More

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      The Guardian view on the US immigration crackdown: what began with foreign nationals won’t end there | Editorial

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      While running for president, Donald Trump promised voters “the largest deportation operation in American history”. Now he wants to deliver. Thousands of undocumented migrants have been rounded up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials since he returned to the White House. On Monday, the US supreme court lifted a judge’s ban on deporting alleged gang members to Venezuela under an 18th-century law, though it said deportees had a right to judicial review. Even the Trump-backing podcaster Joe Rogan has described as “horrific” the removal of an asylum seeker – identified as a criminal because he had tattoos – under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act.What’s truly new is that the administration is also targeting those who arrived and remained in the US with official approval, such as the Palestinian activist and student Mahmoud Khalil. Normally, green card holders would be stripped of their status if convicted of a crime; he has not even been accused of one. But Mr Trump had pledged to deport international students who participated in pro-Palestinian protests that his administration has deemed antisemitic, and Mr Khalil was a leading figure in the movement at Columbia University. The president crowed that his arrest last month was “the first of many”. Rümeysa Öztürk, a Turkish student at Tufts, was detained by masked agents in the street, reportedly for an opinion piece she co-wrote with other students. Unrelated to the protests, dozens if not hundreds more students have had visas revoked, often for minor or non-criminal offences.This crackdown is exploiting legislation in ways that were never intended. The Alien Enemies Act was previously invoked only in wartime – but Mr Trump casts mass migration as an “invasion”. Mr Khalil and others are targeted under a rarely used provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which allows deportations when the secretary of state determines that a foreign national’s presence “would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States”. And while this campaign is indiscriminate in many regards, Mr Trump’s offer of asylum to white Afrikaners facing “unjust racial discrimination” in South Africa speaks volumes about who is and is not wanted in his America.The current fear among migrants, with all its social costs, is not a byproduct of this drive, but the desired result. The Trump administration is trying to push undocumented individuals into “self-deporting”, which is cheaper and easier than using agents to hunt people down. It reportedly plans to levy fines of up to $998 a day if those under deportation orders do not leave – applying the penalties retroactively for up to five years. Fairness, never mind mercy, is not relevant. The administration admits an “administrative error” led to the expulsion to El Salvador of Kilmar Abrego Garcia – who is married to a US citizen and was working legally in the US – but fights against righting that wrong.This crackdown should frighten US nationals too, both for what it says about their nation’s character and for what it may mean for their own rights. The Trump administration wants to remove birthright citizenship and is ramping up denaturalisation efforts. “I love it,” said Mr Trump, when asked about El Salvador’s offer to jail US citizens in its infamous mega-prisons – though at least he conceded that he might have to check the law first. The chilling effect of Mr Khalil’s arrest on dissent is already being felt by US nationals too: the first amendment’s protection of free speech is not exclusive to citizens.“The friendless alien has indeed been selected as the safest subject of a first experiment; but the citizen will soon follow,” Thomas Jefferson wrote when the alien and sedition laws were passed. That warning now looks more prescient than ever.

      Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. More

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      Mother and three kids released by Ice after protests from US ‘border czar’s’ hometown

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      A mother and her three children who were taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agents as part of a sweep in the tiny hometown of the Trump administration’s “border czar”, Tom Homan, have been released following days of outcry from community figures and protesters calling for their freedom.Over the weekend, about a thousand protesters marched outside of Homan’s home in a small New York village, calling for the release of the children and their mother after they were detained last month. The family has not been named or spoken out publicly.Jaime Cook, principal of the Sackets Harbor school district where the children reportedly attended class, wrote a letter to the community pleading for the students’ safe return.She described the children as having “no ties to criminal activity” and that they are “loved in their classrooms”.“We are in shock,” the letter reads. “And it is that shared shock that has unified our community in the call for our students’ release.”The family was taken into custody in a 27 March raid at a large dairy farm in the remote town that has a population of fewer than 1,500 in Jefferson county in north-western New York state, on Lake Ontario near the Canadian border. The target of the raid was reportedly a South African national charged with trafficking in child sexual abuse material, whom they apprehended, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents said.But authorities separately picked up and detained the family, as well as three other immigrants they said were without documentation. The family was moved to the Karnes county immigration processing center, a privately run detention facility in Texas, by 30 March.Cook’s letter said that the family had declared themselves to immigration judges, were attending court on their assigned dates and had been following the legal process.The release of the family was confirmed on Monday by local officials, school administrators, and the New York governor, Kathy Hochul.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionHochul said in a statement that she had direct confirmation from Homan that “this family – a third grader, two teenagers and their mother – are currently on their way back to Jefferson county. I cannot imagine the trauma these kids and their mom are feeling, and I pray they will be able to heal when they return home.”The protests were organized with the help of the Jefferson county committee of the Democratic Party. Corey Decillis, committee chair, told NBC News that protestors had seen these raids “occur right in the last 60 days across the country, but when it happens in your backyard, I think that’s what garners people’s attention.” More

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      South Sudan says person at centre of US deportation row is from DRC

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      The government of South Sudan said on Monday that an individual at the centre of a deportation row with the US, which South Sudan refused to allow into the country at the weekend, is a citizen of neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).South Sudan said the individual was a man named Makula Kintu, not Nimeiri Garang, as his paperwork claimed and had been using travel documents which were not his. “In accordance with our immigration protocols, we returned him to the sending country for further processing,” the foreign ministry spokesperson, Apuk Ayuel Mayen, said.Footage released by the authorities in South Sudan’s capital, Juba, showed a man speaking to immigration authorities at Juba international airport, saying he was born in North Kivu, in the eastern DRC. He identified himself as Kintu and said he had been deported from the US against his will.On Sunday, the US announced that it had revoked the visas of all South Sudanese passport holders in reaction to the refusal by immigration authorities at Juba international airport to repatriate the man, accusing the east African country of “taking advantage of the United States”.Mayen, the foreign ministry spokesperson, said that South Sudan “deeply regrets” the blanket measure against all of the country’s citizens based on “an isolated incident involving misrepresentation by an individual who is not a South Sudanese national”.She added that the government of South Sudan was open to receiving its citizens, whether they voluntarily leave the US or are deported, and had maintained open communication with the US, despite claims by Washington that it had been rebuffed.Trump administration officials have said the individual’s documents were verified by South Sudan’s embassy in Washington DC and that South Sudan had “violated” its obligation “by refusing to accept one of their nationals certified by their own embassy in Washington and repatriated to their country”.In a post on social media, the US deputy secretary of state, Chris Landau, said: “Specifically, on February 13, 2025, the South Sudanese Embassy issued the individual an emergency travel letter certifying his nationality as South Sudanese and giving his date and place of birth (in what is now South Sudan, which then was part of Sudan).”Landau added that it was “unacceptable and irresponsible” for South Sudanese authorities to then reject a decision made by their embassy and “as far as we’re concerned, the Embassy’s certification is conclusive and the matter is closed”.Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state, said a visa and entry ban for South Sudanese citizens would go into immediate effect and would be reviewed once South Sudan, in the US government’s eyes, began cooperating again.Jok Madut Jok, an academic specialising in South Sudan at Syracuse University, in upstate New York, said if the mistake was made at South Sudan’s Washington embassy, that doesn’t “get the US off the hook for this measure”. “On humanitarian grounds, this needs to be rolled back because it is too broad,” he said, adding that many people attempting to come to the US could be refugees fleeing conflict.South Sudanese passport holders have enjoyed “temporary protected status” (TPS) in the US since 2011 which affords them legal protections against deportation due to instability and fighting in their country of origin. The Department of Homeland Security believes 133 people from South Sudan were on the US TPS programme last year.Donald Trump wanted to end TPS during his first term and the US president has attempted to do so again, targeting nationals from Nicaragua, Haiti, Venezuela and Cuba.TPS was renewed for South Sudanese nationals last September but is set to expire in May, which comes as South Sudan faces an escalating risk of renewed fighting by leaders from its two largest ethnic groups.South Sudan, the world’s youngest country, gained independence from Sudan in 2011, and has since struggled with armed conflict and poverty. Between 2013 and 2018, fighting between factions loyal to the current president, Salva Kiir Mayardit, and his vice-president, Riek Machar, killed nearly 400,000 people.Alexandra Ribe, an immigration attorney who specialises in humanitarian issues, said it is too early to tell what impact the measure would have on South Sudanese in the US as it was not clear what enforcement action immigration authorities would take, but described it as “punitive”.Ribe said the measure would “send a chill down the spines of nationals from the targeted country who have nothing to do with the issue at hand”. More

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      Deported over a speeding ticket? Dozens of US students’ visas abruptly revoked

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      Lisa was eating takeout at a friend’s place when the email from her university landed. She clicked into her inbox and skimmed the message:“ISS [International Student Services] is writing to inform you that your SEVIS record was terminated …”The wording felt unfamiliar. She read it again, but it still sounded like a scam – absurd and unreal.Lisa is an international student at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, just one month away from graduation. She asked to use a pseudonym due to concerns about retaliation and an ongoing legal case.Before going to bed, she found someone posted a similar notice on social media. It was through these posts that Lisa understood what the email had actually meant: with her Student and Exchange Visitor Information System record terminated, she was now considered out of status in the US. Staying could mean violating immigration laws.The Department of Homeland Security maintains the Sevis database that tracks international students and scholars on F, M and J visas. Once a Sevis record is terminated, a student’s legal status becomes immediately invalid. They must either leave the US within the grace period, typically 15 days, or take steps to restore their status. Otherwise, they risk deportation and future visa restrictions.She dug through comment sections. Joined group chats. Searched for patterns. One emerged: most of the affected students had been fingerprinted. Some had been cited for non-criminal offenses, but the messages they received said they had criminal records.That’s when she remembered: a year ago, she was driving home when she got two speeding tickets: one for speeding and another for failing to stop. She hadn’t seen the police car behind her until it was too late. To get the charges dismissed, she showed up in court, where she was fingerprinted.Lisa is one of several students across states who found their legal status revoked by the US government on 4 April, without prior notice or clear explanation. University statements show that at least 39 students have been affected, including UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC San Diego, Stanford, Ohio State, the University of Tennessee, the University of Kentucky, Minnesota State University and the University of Oregon.An online self-reported data sheet created by affected students suggests the issue may be more widespread. Students from 50 universities reported their visas were canceled around 4 April, with many noting that they had prior records, some limited to citations or non-criminal offenses.View image in fullscreenThis secret wave of revocation came a few days after the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, announced the revocation of 300 or more student visas. “We do it every day. Every time I find one of these lunatics, I take away their visas,” he said at a news conference on 27 March, referring to students he described as national security threats.Lisa’s university had included a screenshot of her Sevis record in the message. Termination was logged on 4 April by a system administrator, with a note: “Individual identified in criminal records check and/or has had their VISA revoked.”Shenqi Cai, a California immigration attorney and managing attorney at Lashine Law, said she got the first call from a student on 3 April. “At the time, we thought it was a one-off. It seemed strange.”But by Friday, more cases kept coming in. She contacted designated school officials at several partner universities and confirmed that the terminations were visible in the Sevis system.Cai said this round of Sevis terminations appeared to be unprecedented. “Students weren’t given any chance to explain their situation. As long as the system flagged them, what we believe is a kind of criminal screening trigger, they were terminated under one broad directive.”Based on the information collected so far, Cai said about 90% of the affected students had been fingerprinted. But she explained that the criteria used to flag students can vary by state. “Each state defines these triggers differently. The thresholds are inconsistent. A student may be arrested in one state, but that doesn’t mean they’ll be convicted, because the power to decide guilt or innocence lies with the judge.”David, a Chinese student who completed his undergraduate degree, was immediately unable to continue working. He requested a pseudonym due to fears of retaliation and an ongoing legal case.In 2024, David was reported to police after a verbal argument with his partner. When officers arrived, they were still arguing, but there was no physical contact, he said. Because of a language barrier, his partner couldn’t clearly explain what had happened. David was detained overnight and later ordered to appear in court.“My partner wrote a statement to the prosecutor explaining it wasn’t domestic violence,” he said. The charge was eventually dropped. Court records show the case was dismissed with prejudice, and the judge ordered the arrest record and biometric data to be destroyed.Three years later, David received a Sevis termination notice.Unlike enrolled F-1 students, David is working under Optional Practical Training, a work authorization linked to the Sevis system. Once a Sevis record is terminated, that authorization ends and is nearly impossible to recover.David was nearing the end of his first year of employment when he got the notice on Friday. He scheduled a lunch meeting with his manager, who said the company would try to help him relocate to Canada. But because the termination took effect immediately, he was subjected to the 15-day departure rule.“I told my family, and they felt just as powerless,” he said. “But we don’t come from wealth, and there’s not a lot they can do.”Bill is facing the same dilemma. He graduated in December 2024 and is currently job-hunting. He asked not to use his real name due to a pending case.In early 2025, Bill hit another car while making a turn. At the time, his driver’s license had just expired. Police cited him for driving with an expired license. After renewing it, he followed the instructions and appeared in court.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotion“I went with a temporary license. The court staff were friendly,” he said. “One even joked, ‘This is no big deal, handsome,’ while taking my fingerprints and photos. It felt like a scene out of a movie.”His initial appearance only involved ID verification. When he asked if the hearing could be held that day, a staff member told him it was scheduled for May and suggested he come back then.“I thought it was fine. My license was updated, I just had to show up again.” But on 3 April, he suddenly received a notice from the school that his Sevis record had been terminated.Now, Bill has no idea what to do. Legally, he should leave the country immediately, but his case is still open and he’s required to appear in court in May. He doesn’t know whether showing up would put him at risk of detention.On 4 April, he met with his university’s international office. Staff there were willing to help, he said, but had few tools. They asked him to write a personal statement, which they promised to pass along to university leadership. The only formal support offered was a referral to a discounted lawyer – $150 an hour.View image in fullscreen“The dust of history falls on me, and it becomes a mountain. That’s all there is to it,” he said.By Sunday evening, the panic had spread. Three hundred students joined a Zoom info session hosted by Brad Banias, a federal court immigration litigator and former justice department trial attorney. Questions poured into the chat box: “Should we leave our apartments right now in case ICE shows up?” “Will an unpaid parking ticket be a problem?”Banias called the terminations a political move, not a legal one. “It makes me angry to see 19-year-olds just trying to study, and suddenly a parking ticket they didn’t even know about shows up on a criminal background check,” he said. “Don’t let them convince you it’s reasonable to leave the country over a parking ticket.”For Lisa, the future was just starting to take shape. She is about to graduate in one month, with a job offer and grad school acceptance. But now, she said she wasn’t even sure if she should go to class on Monday.Back in April 2024, she was pulled over in Madison for speeding. She hadn’t noticed the patrol car behind her right away, and by the time she stopped, two officers approached. One told her not to worry – it was her first offense, and all she needed to do was pay the fine. But the other issued two citations: one for speeding, the other for failing to stop.They told her it was just a miscommunication, something she could clear up in court.But that never really happened.“My first court date was just for ID,” she said. “They fingerprinted me, took a photo, measured my height. The judge barely said anything. No hearing, just a new court date.”She asked if the case could be resolved sooner and was told to schedule an online meeting. She did. During that meeting, the case was dropped. No record. They asked if she accepted. She said yes.Everything after that went smoothly: her work visa was approved, the company background checks cleared, and she had no trouble leaving and re-entering the country. She thought it was behind her.Then the email came.“I don’t know if I’m still allowed to graduate,” she said. “If I don’t get my degree, does the grad school still take me? Does the company push back the offer? Worst case, I don’t graduate. I go home and start college again. Four more years. And then what?” More