In a joint statement Sunday, Christelle Joseph and Julia Olszewski, president and vice president for the Undergraduate Student Government respectively, urged the university to maintain transparency with its students. They wrote, “For as long as we have attended UMass Boston, the administration has prided itself on diversity, inclusivity, and safety for all members of its community … We call on the University to be open regarding steps they are taking to ensure students’ right to education is protected, along with student rights and well-being overall.”

Joseph and Olszewski added that the “federal nature of this issue coupled with the federal funding on which this school operates may complicate the school’s ability to step in,” but promised to “do all that we can to protect our students, our friends, and our community.”

The UMass Boston Students for Justice in Palestine chapter released a statement Sunday criticizing the administration for not taking more proactive steps to protect immigrants on campus. “These attacks are not on them alone, but on each of us and our entire campus community. After weeks of demanding the administration take a proactive stance, we cannot help but feel enraged by this development,” they wrote.

“Chancellor Suárez-Orozco’s administration has a long history of performative gestures, of marketing campaigns, of appearance over substance,” UMass Boston SJP wrote. “For months, however, UMass Boston leadership has failed to act, and now members of our own community are forced to bear the costs.”

A spokesperson for the university did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the statement.

SJP at UMass Amherst issued a statement Saturday night similar to SJP at Boston’s. “This wave of student immigration crackdowns is not just occurring in the country, in the state, something unprecedented, something distant. This is happening on our own campus,” the organization wrote.

“It is the overpolicing of campus that directly leads to the targeting of students, putting a spotlight on those with visas when even minor traffic violations can result in visa revocation—a detail also shared by Reyes in the 4/4 email,” SJP at UMass Amherst wrote. “Students are constantly monitored, scrutinized, and criminalized by a campus that should protect them. Instead, UMass and UMPD are willing to sacrifice their students to preserve their own reputation.”

A spokesperson for UMass Amherst could not be immediately reached for comment.

The chancellor’s Saturday email marks the first time that he has directly communicated with the campus community about immigration threats facing UMass Boston. Suárez-Orozco and Provost Joseph Berger briefly mentioned student visas in the context of funding freezes and a potential government shutdown in a March 13 email. He also spoke about the topic during a radio interview with WGBH March 25, according to DeWayne Lehman, UMass Boston Director of Communications.

In February, Suárez-Orozco and six other UMass Boston administrators faced criticism from union members after declining to appear at a town hall meeting to answer questions about the university’s response to Trump administration policies.

The Trump administration revoked visas from students at universities across the country this weekend, including five at Minnesota State University in Mankato, the Associated Press reports. According to The Los Angeles Times, officials also revoked visas from at least four students and six recent graduates at the University of California Berkeley, seven students and five recent graduates at UC Davis, four students and two recent graduates at Stanford University and an unspecified number at UC Irvine.