The Trump administration is revoking visas for Boston-area international students, including 40 students and recent graduates at Northeastern University, at least 10 UMass Amherst students, one student at Emerson College, a second graduate student at Tufts University after the high-profile detention of Rümeysa Öztürk last month, and three students at Berklee College of Music. None of the schools have indicated that these revocations are connected to students’ speech or pro-Palestinian advocacy.
“We recently learned that one of our international students had their student status revoked by the Department of Homeland Security,” Emerson College President Jay Bernhardt wrote in a statement.
Bernhardt said the school had no reason to believe that the student was targeted for “protest-related activity.” He added that the school is working closely with the affected students.
Tufts University spokesperson Patrick Collins told GBH News in an email that two graduate students had had their visas terminated through the Department of Homeland Security, including Öztürk.
“We informed the student and directed them to outside immigration resources for support. We are still gathering information and have no additional details at this time,” Collins wrote.
Berklee spokesperson Daniel Pesquera says three of their students had their visas revoked in the past several days. “The federal government has not explained the reasoning behind these terminations and did not notify Berklee in advance of the terminations. We are actively monitoring the situation and continuing to prioritize student support,” Pesquera said.
The schools would not provide details about the revocations or expand on the resources they are providing.
Immigration attorney Ellen Sullivan says her office has received at least 10 calls since Sunday with inquiries about immigration status from people who have current court matters, some of them students here on visas concerned after hearing about visa revocations in the news.
“As of now, we have no evidence that a Northeastern student or recent graduate has had their status revoked due to political advocacy or speech,” a Northeastern webpage reads.
Boston College associate professor Gerardo Blanco leads the school’s Center for International Higher Education. “Part of the challenge that we are having right now is that the government has been canceling some of these visas without notifying the institutions first. That part is one of those that has caused a great amount of confusion and uncertainty.”
For Blanco, the lack of transparency with the Trump administration immigration policy raises concern.
“I would say, at the bare minimum, there is an expectation to say if a student has been charged with a crime or penalty. That has to be made clear. And it has to be made clear at least to the public, even if it’s in general terms without breaking confidentiality expectations for the individual,” he said. “I’m hearing from colleagues who are working with international students and fielding questions from them that there doesn’t seem to be a clear pattern as to what these students have done wrong.”
He says that is leaving students not knowing the specific reason for the revocations.
“I think that is why international students are so worried and so concerned at the moment because they don’t know what others have done wrong, ‘How can I avoid that situation?’” Blanco said. “And I think that explains some of the challenges that we are facing at this particular moment.”
