The U.S. Department of Homeland Security this weekend revoked the student visas and legal statuses of two UMass Boston students, five UMass Amherst students and five others related to UMass Boston.
Immigration officials did not notify either university, according to emails from UMass Boston Chancellor Marcelo Suárez-Orozco and UMass Amherst Chancellor Javier Reyes. Suárez-Orozco wrote in an email Saturday that the Office of Global Programs discovered the changes because it monitors the Immigration and Customs Enforcement database that includes information about student visas.
“Upon learning of these status terminations, the Office of Global Programs followed university protocol and immediately provided the individuals with information and support,” Suárez-Orozco wrote. “We are connecting them with various resources and providing direct assistance from the leadership teams within the Provost’s Office, Student Affairs, and the Office of Global Programs.”
The email described the five others as “members of our university community including recent graduates participating in training programs.” UMass Boston Director of Communications DeWayne Lehman declined to provide additional details “to protect individual identities.”
Reyes, who was born and raised in Mexico, wrote in a Friday night email that he studied in the United States on a student visa. “I want to stress how important our international community is to the vitality of our campus and assure every international student and scholar at UMass of our unwavering support as we confront this new reality,” he wrote.
A spokesperson for the UMass Office of the President did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Suárez-Orozco wrote that universities across the country have reported similar revocations. “These are unprecedented times, and our normal guiding principles for living in a democratic society are being challenged. With the rate and depth of changes occurring, we must be thoughtful in how we best prepare, protect, and respond,” Suárez-Orozco wrote.
The Trump administration revoked visas this weekend from five students 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.
Nationwide, some students were targeted because of their support of the pro-Palestine movement. It is unclear whether any of the UMass students are involved in activism.
Rumeysa Öztürk, a student at Tufts University who wrote an op-ed in support of Palestine last year, was arrested March 25 by plain-clothes immigration officials in Somerville. Her visa was in “good immigration standing” before the arrest, Tufts wrote in a court filing. They were notified that it had been revoked the following day.
Doğukan Günaydın, a graduate student at the University of Minnesota, was arrested by plain-clothes immigration officers March 27. Günaydın, who has not attended protests or written any publications, was also arrested before his visa was revoked, according to the AP. Immigration officials say they revoked his visa due to a conviction for drunk driving on his record.
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.”
Also on Sunday, the UMass Boston Students for Justice in Palestine chapter criticized 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.”
The email marks the first time that the chancellor 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 Lehman.
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.
A spokesperson for the university did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the statement.
SJP at UMass Amherst issued a similar statement Saturday night. “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.
Wrote Suárez-Orozco, “We will intensify our dedication to fostering an inclusive and thriving community, to relentlessly support our community—especially our students—while remaining vigilant in our responsibility to protect individual rights in accordance with state and federal laws.”
This is a developing story. Click here to read live updates. Dakota Brown and Elijah Horwath contributed reporting.
