Uncertainty, fear and isolation looms over international students after visa revocations

By Abigail Chiu     4/22/25 11:39pm

With the wave of international student visa revocations across the country, including three students at Rice and two recent graduates, international students have expressed fears that their visas will soon be terminated without warning. 

One graduate student said they learned of the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System terminations through the American Association of University Professors and the Rice Grad Campaign social media posts. SEVIS is an online portal managed by the Department of Homeland Security that tracks a student’s immigration status. 

A SEVIS termination means students lose all employment authorization and cannot re-enter the US, which also applies to the dependents of graduate students on associated F-2 or M-2 visas. 

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A SEVIS termination is not the same as a visa revocation. The Trump administration’s officials said last week that solely SEVIS terminations, which are the vast majority of cases, do not impact a student’s non-immigrant status or equate to a visa revocation on their own.

There is uncertainty around what the implications are for international students, and some students are electing to leave the country rather than be deported or face other legal repercussions.

“Like many other international students on F-1 and J-1 visas, I also experience the threat and reality of visa and SEVIS revocations; it is not merely a bureaucratic inconvenience — it is a direct threat to my identity as a graduate student and my future,” Student A, who was granted anonymity for their safety, wrote in a message to the Thresher. “The constant self-monitoring of my visa status and SEVIS updates adds a layer of daily vigilance.” 

After consulting with their advisors and fellow students, this student is choosing not to travel this summer.

A second international graduate student, who has also been granted anonymity for their safety, said they found out about the terminations through the arrest of Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil.

“That was the first thing to alert us, international graduate students in school, and we started talking about it,” Student B wrote in an email to the Thresher. “I think we all underestimated what [immigration enforcement] can do, how they can act.”

The first publicized arrests occurred at universities in the Northeast, but the student said they knew it would come to Texas eventually despite the sense of safety afforded by Rice’s private status.

“A violation to one is a violation to all … Especially after the abduction of Rümeysa Öztürk, I started to look back and check my surroundings whenever I am walking down the street,” Student B wrote. “I cannot help but feel somebody is coming for me. Some nights, I just unlock my phone and update my mails app couple of times to see if I received any news from [the Office of International Students & Scholars].”

Student A said their degree requires international fieldwork, but current uncertainties put this work in limbo.  Although Rice has conveyed support through emails, the student said they felt the institutional protection for international students is limited. 

The Rice Grad Campaign said in a statement to the Thresher that Rice administrators have created a culture of fear around seeking and providing aid to those facing revocations or terminations. This includes the university not providing financial support to international graduate students facing legal challenges around their status.

“At Rice, the graduate students facing revocations and/or SEVIS terminations immediately lost their graduate student stipend — and thus their only possibility to earn income in the United States and were referred to lawyers without any support for legal fees,” the statement read. “Rice administrators went out of their way to make [harboring law threats] known to community members attempting to organize fundraisers for affected students.”

The Rice Grad Campaign listed four demands including full financial support for legal fees of students facing SEVIS termination or revocation, letting Ph.D. students continue to receive the full amount of their stipend and for students who have lost their stipend in these last few weeks be compensated retroactively. In addition, the Rice Grad Campaign called for Rice to adopt the provision of the Sanctuary Campus Petition and to commit to a real culture of care and transparency.

“All of this is unconscionable, and it all reveals that Rice administrators feel no responsibility to some of our most vulnerable community members who are also some of the most vital members of our intellectual space,” the statement read. “International students bring incredible knowledge and experience to our campus. The university should bear a special responsibility to the many international students that it agrees to sponsor — but this has never been the case.”

F1 visa-holders cannot legally work in the U.S. except for their sponsoring educational institutions, and Ph.D. students who face SEVIS termination also immediately lose their stipends.

The Office of News and Media Relations did not comment on stipends. 

President Reginald DesRoches wrote in an email to the Rice community that he believes Rice can both follow the law and honor its values. 

“Within the bounds of the law, we are also doing all we can to support students who have been personally impacted,” the email read. “Finally, if visa problems complicate a student’s academic progress, Rice stands ready to identify other feasible ways a student can continue their progress toward a degree.”

A recent campuswide email said the Rice Paris Global Center and other partnerships with international universities were options for students who need to leave the U.S. but want to stay with Rice.

The Rice chapter of the American Association of University Professors said in a statement to the Thresher that they were concerned that the Rice administration has acted precipitously in response to SEVIS terminations and visa revocations. 

“We have asked for a daily monitoring of SEVIS records, to keep Rice students enrolled, and not to terminate their university employment,” Rice AAUP wrote in an email to the Thresher. “We have no confirmation that this is being done or even of the total number of cases at Rice. Providing adequate support to our international students who are feeling abandoned and vulnerable is only possible if Rice administration shares this information.”

A recent report from the American Immigration Lawyers Association said there have been more than 4,700 SEVIS or visa revocations since January 20. In a review of over 300 cases, 50% of affected students were from India. Only two students from AILA’s review had reported ever engaging in political protest.

DesRoches’ email affirmed support for Rice’s international community and acknowledged the challenges they are facing.

“Rice has not publicly and unequivocally committed to fighting for its students,” Student A wrote. “Despite all this, I am proud to say that at Rice there has been significant community support.”

The American Civil Liberties Union published an open letter to university general counsels arguing that continuing normal housing and services support for students does not violate harboring unlawful noncitizen laws, so universities should not cease these services for fear of prosecution. 

The Rice Grad Campaign and AAUP Rice said they have been supporting international students via WhatsApp groups, “Know Your Rights” trainings and connecting students to legal clinics and advocacy networks. Student A said this highlights the power of community organizing in a time of crisis. 

“To live under the current threats of visa revocation is to be academically ambitious while facing existential uncertainty,” Student A wrote. “It means working twice as hard for opportunities that could be erased by an algorithm, a border officer’s judgment, or a policy shift. It’s to be in the classroom while carrying the burden of displacement.”

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