Visas revoked for students at universities in Southern states amid crackdown [View all]

Source: NBC News

April 12, 2025, 9:34 PM EDT / Updated April 13, 2025, 12:42 AM EDT


The Trump administration's revocation of student visas and, in separate action, termination of students from a tracking system for foreign scholars, 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 or otherwise changed.

Some university representatives said the institutions found out some of their students had their visas revoked or their immigration status changed by checking the federal Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), a federal tracking system for exchange visitors.

Florida International University spokesperson Dianne Fernandez said 18 foreign students at the institution have had their F1 student visas revoked. Texas A&M spokesperson Megan Lacy said 23 international students have had their SEVIS record terminated. “A SEVIS record termination essentially terminates the individual’s legal status in the country," Lacy said via email.

Other institutions with foreign students who have experienced changes in their tracking or status include New Mexico State, where nine scholars had their visas revoked, a spokesperson said; the University of North Carolina, where six students had their visas terminated, according to the Carolina Alumni Review; Middle Tennessee State, where the status of six other students also changed in the federal immigration database, a spokesperson said; and Rice University in Houston, where the student visas of three students and two recent graduates were revoked, a spokesperson said.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/visas-revoked-students-universities-southern-states-crackdown-rcna201019