A dozen students have visas revoked at Clark University

Local News

Students at the Worcester university are among dozens of international scholars in Massachusetts who have had their visa status terminated.

Twelve international students at Worcester’s Clark University have had their visas revoked, according to administrative officials.

The revocations come as several international students across the country have also had their visas rescinded due to the Trump administration’s push to remove students for their alleged involvement in pro-Palestinian activism. 

On Thursday, four Harvard University students and three recent graduates from the institution also had their student visas revoked, according to a Boston Globe report. International students at Emerson College, UMass Amherst, and Berklee College of Music have also had their visas terminated, school officials reported.

Clark University officials, including President David Fithian, released a message to the university community on Thursday, confirming the visa revocations. Administrators said they were not directly notified of the change in students’ visa status.

“Normally, institutions and/or students would be notified by the federal government if a student’s visa has been revoked; that is not occurring,” administrators said. “Instead, we are regularly monitoring any changes of status for our students in the federal government’s Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) database,”

“At this point, we have confirmed that federal authorities have revoked the visas and/or terminated their record in SEVIS of 12 of our international students. We do not know for certain the reason for these actions.”

The revocations follow the high-profile arrest of a Tufts University PhD student from Turkey. Masked ICE agents arrested Rumeysa Ozturk, 30, on March 25 as she walked to dinner in Somerville. Tufts officials said they were told that Ozturk’s visa status had been terminated. Ozturk has since been moved to an ICE detention center in Louisiana.

On April 10, Clark University, along with 85 other colleges, signed an amicus brief in AAUP v. Rubio in support of international students. The case challenges the Trump administration’s revocation of visas and arrest, detainment, and deportation of noncitizens and students.

Clark officials said the amicus brief highlights the essential role that international students and graduates play in local communities, as well as the U.S. economy, national security, and global competitiveness.

“International students have long been, and continue to be, important and valued members of our university community,”  Clark administrators said in a press release. “We know this is an unsettling time and our Office of Global Engagement and the International Students and Scholars Office are working closely with our international students to provide support as we maneuver through the unprecedented moves by the federal government. By joining the amicus brief, we have added our voice to the call for restraint by the federal government.”