SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Five international students at UCSD had their visas revoked, ABC 10News learned on Sunday, and one was denied entry at the border and deported.
Chancellor Pradeep Khosla said the federal government has not explained the reasoning behind the terminations. A local attorney explained there are a range of issues, like working without authorization, that could lead to termination of a visa.
But the Trump Administration has also terminated the visas of students who participated in pro-Palestinian activism, including one who wrote an op-ed in a student newspaper.
While it remains unclear what prompted this action, the Trump Administration’s efforts have left students on edge.
A thread in r/UCSD on Reddit from an international student asking how to stay safe is full of suggestions to avoid controversial political stances and protests, particularly regarding the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
"Nobody on campus is entirely sure as to why these students' visas were terminated and who might be next,” Aryan Dixit, the president of the Student Civil Liberties Union at UCSD, told 10News. “So, a lot of the emotions that are being evoked in this moment are, who's next, what's coming."
UCSD’s 8,134 international students make up almost a fifth of the student body and roughly half of the graduate student population.
Each of the 4,010 international undergraduates pays an additional $34,200 in tuition on top of the $19,674 base tuition, and these students are not eligible to apply for financial aid, according to UCSD’s website.
This works out to more than $216 million in tuition alone that the university could stand to lose if the international undergraduate student body is deterred from enrolling due to actions from the Trump Administration.
That’s before factoring in the economic impact of those students living on or around campus. UCSD estimates that each student will spend roughly $20k a year in housing costs and other living expenses, another $80 million that goes to the local economy.
UCSD’s 4,101 international graduate students also helped the University secure $1.73 billion in awards and grants in 2024, according to the UCSD Office of Research and Innovation.
Roughly half of that funding comes from federal sources like the National Institute of Health and the National Science Foundation, both institutions that have seen cuts from the current administration.
Dr. Davey Smith of UC San Diego Health told ABC 10News that about 16 clinical trials — which include his for a new vaccine for those with HIV — are being put on pause, which equates to roughly $2.5 million in annual NIH grant funding.
The university remains one of the top research institutions in the world.
