Visas revoked for students at universities in Southern states amid crackdown

The Trump administration’s revocation of student visas for foreign students vocally opposed to Israel’s continued strikes on Gaza has spread to the South.

Public and private colleges and universities across the Sun Belt have reported that at least a few of their students have had their status as welcome scholars revoked, with Texas A&M University and Florida International University posting even bigger numbers.

Texas A&M spokesperson Megan Bennett said 23 international students have lost their student visas at the institution.

Florida International University spokesperson Dianne Fernandez said the number there was 18.

Other institutions making the number of revocations public include New Mexico State (9); the University of North Carolina (6); Middle Tennessee State (6); and Rice University in Houston (3).

The University of Texas at Austin has said only that “multiple” foreign students have had their visas revoked, according to NBC affiliate KXAN of Austin.

The continued revocations by the administration of President Donald Trump have spread beyond New York City, the Ivy League and New England colleges to some of the states Trump won in 2024, including Texas, Florida and North Carolina — though the political implications of his policy are unclear.

Last month, Secretary of State Marco Rubio estimated that 300 foreign college and university scholars had their visas revoked by the Trump administration.

The revocation policy gained attention after March 8, when a former Columbia University postgraduate who helped lead 2024 student protests against Israel’s actions in Gaza and who was living on campus with his wife was arrested outside his home by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents who said his student visa had been revoked, according to wife Noor Abdalla’s account.

One of his lawyers, Amy Greer, said Abdalla told ICE agents Khalil was a permanent resident with a green card, but they took him away and, according his legal team, have yet to produce an arrest warrant.

On Friday, a judge ruled the Trump administration can deport Khalil.

Khalil’s arrest and continued detention at a federal facility in Louisiana have become a cause célèbre, with protesters fanning out across the nation to decry what they argue is a lack of due process and a clear intention by the Trump administration intention to silence free speech with which it disagrees.

The Trump administration has been steadfast in its campaign against campus protesters critical of Israel and its war against Hamas militants following the latter’s Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel in which 1,200 people were killed and about 250 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.

Much of the warfare has taken place in Gaza, which neighbors Israel, and civilians have been displaced and killed in massive numbers, with Palestinian health officials estimating 50,500 people have been killed there.

The Trump administration has said it has the authority to deport Khalil because he “led activities aligned to Hamas, a designated terrorist organization.” His attorneys, however, have argued there is no evidence that Khalil has provided any type of support to terror groups.

Rubio also supported deporting Khalil in a letter that cited an obscure provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 that allows the secretary of state alone to “personally determine” whether an immigrant should remain in the country.

An immigration judge in Louisiana on Friday said Rubio’s explanation was all he needed to see and ruled that Khalil can be deported. He has until April 23 to file for relief. At the same time, he’s challenging the basis of his arrest in federal court in New Jersey.

Though the government’s arguments against Khalil’s presence have expanded to include reasons not initially given, including alleged failure to disclose material information on his residency application, White House has increasingly targeted foreign-born students whose main transgression seems to be activism.

“Every time I find one of these lunatics, I take away their visas,” he said in Guyana last month.

Some university representatives said the institutions found out they were teaching students whose visas had been revoked by checking the federal Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, which can signal a student’s presence, legal or otherwise.

Bennett, the Texas A&M spokesperson, explained by email what has been happening: “A SEVIS record termination essentially terminates the individual’s legal status in the country.”