International student visas in US being quietly terminated with no reason or warning under new Trump-era crackdown 

A sweeping crackdown on international students is sending shockwaves through U.S. campuses, with students abruptly stripped of visas and ordered to leave the country—often without explanation. College officials say the Trump administration is bypassing universities, targeting students for reasons ranging from activism to minor offences, in a move that’s threatening America’s image as a global academic destination, according to the Associated Press.

Unlike past practices where students could stay and complete their studies even if their visas were revoked, current orders from the Department of Homeland Security require immediate departure. In some cases, even legal residency status is being terminated without notice.

“These are troubling times, and this situation is unlike any we have navigated before,” wrote Minnesota State University President Edward Inch, after five international students had their visas revoked. The school only found out after checking a federal database following the detention of a Turkish student elsewhere in the state.

Rising pro-Palestinian protests in universities

The shift began following President Donald Trump’s pledge to deport foreign students involved in pro-Palestinian protests. Among the first was Mahmoud Khalil, a green card–holding Columbia student detained over his activism. Secretary of State Marco Rubio later said students were being targeted for protests and “potential criminal activity.”

In reality, the crackdown has expanded far beyond political engagement. Students at Arizona State, Cornell, North Carolina State, the University of Texas, and others have found their legal status revoked. At Tufts and the University of Alabama, students were detained before their schools were even aware their status had changed.

Miriam Feldblum, president of the Presidents' Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, said, “None of this is regular practice.” She noted that students are being quietly deleted from databases, bypassing institutional involvement and exposing them to arrest.

Cases include Saudi students at North Carolina State who left the U.S. voluntarily, and others at the University of Texas at Austin, where database checks revealed revoked permissions. One student from India and another from Lebanon lost their status despite full-time employment under post-study visa rules.

Some revocations are tied to a law allowing visa denial to noncitizens seen as having “serious adverse foreign policy consequences,” which Trump invoked in January to crack down on campus antisemitism. But many cases, according to Feldblum and others, involve infractions as minor as speeding tickets.

With no official explanations, universities are scrambling to investigate possible links to political activity or social media posts. Bernie Burrola of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities said, “The universities can’t seem to find anything that seems to be related to Gaza or social media posts or protests.”

At Texas A&M, visa terminations were linked to long-settled offences, including one involving only a speeding violation.