SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Five UC San Diego students had their F-1 visas terminated "without warning" from the school, according to a campus notice sent out Friday by Chancellor Pradeep Khosla. One other student was denied entry into the United States at the border and later deported back to their home country.
This is in the wake of the federal government terminating visas for international students at several schools nationwide. The notice says the federal government has not yet explained the reasoning behind these terminations to UC San Diego.
Aryan Dixit is a sophomore at UCSD and is the president of the Student Civil Liberties Union on campus. He's not sure of the future for his fellow classmates.
"Nobody on campus is entirely sure as to why these students' visas were terminated and who might be next, so a lot of the emotions that are being evoked in this moment are, who's next, what's coming," said Dixit.
The UC system Office of the President also sent out a statement generally acknowledging these student visa terminations:
"The University of California is aware that international students across several of our campuses have been impacted by recent SEVIS terminations... We are committed to doing what we can to support all members of our community as they exercise their rights under the law. In doing that, the University will continue to follow all applicable state and federal laws."
That's what students said they want to see.
"The university needs to keep working and to keep supporting international students and make sure there are certain safeguards that if immigration is trying to remove peoples' visas that the university places value in its students over a federal administration that isn't conducive towards international students and their right to study wherever they want," said Gavin Martinez, a freshman at UCSD.
Congressman Scott Peters provided ABC 10News with a statement on this incident.
"The Trump Administration’s ongoing disregard for due process and ignoring of judicial decisions is bringing us closer and closer to a constitutional crisis... My office will continue to monitor the situation as we await further information on the basis for targeting these UCSD students," said Peters.
The UC San Diego chancellor's notice said that the affected students have been notified, and the school is working to support them. The school urged all international students to visit their International Services and Engagement Office and review the university's "Know Your Rights" card.
