The Trump administration revoked the visa of an international graduate student at the University of Iowa, according to an email sent to international students on April 10.
The UI learned on April 4 the U.S. Department of State canceled the student’s visa, according to the email sent by Russell Ganim, associate provost and dean of International Programs.
“The university did not initiate the action and was not aware of any violation,” Ganim said in the email.
The UI’s International Student and Scholar Services immediately alerted the student, offered to meet, and outlined next steps, Ganim said in the email.
In an email to The Daily Iowan, a UI spokesperson said the university is aware of students who have been impacted and are unable to provide any detail for privacy reasons.
Nearly 300 international students were stripped of their visas in recent days, a part of President Donald Trump’s aim to deport those who participated in pro-Palestine protests, which has expanded to revoking visas for minor infractions.
The charge is largely led by Secretary of State Marco Rubios’s “Catch and Release” program, according to an exclusive by Axios, that has focused deportation efforts on students who protested against the war in Gaza.
Those with their visas revoked face deportation.
More than 1.5 million people were in the U.S. in 2023 under student visas issued by the State Department, according to a government report. International students account for nearly one-third of the UI’s graduate student population.
University employees’ hands are tied when it comes to assisting students impacted by visa revocations, as they cannot do much beyond offering guidance and referrals to legal services.
“International students and scholars are valued members of the Iowa community,” Ganim said in the email, while also stating the UI is not authorized to provide personal legal advice.
Ganim encouraged students to contact a private attorney, listing contacts for the Iowa State Bar Association, the Law Clinic at Iowa Law, and Student Legal Services.
The Campaign to Organize Graduate Students, or COGs, wrote in a news release Thursday that the graduate student union will do whatever they can, “putting our bodies on the line, in order to protect each other,” and encouraged others to take a similar stance.
“In light of such spurious attacks on scholars and immigrants, we urge the University of Iowa, our community, and individuals to do whatever they are able to resist such blatant authoritarianism designed to terrorize our international students,” the student union wrote in a news release Thursday.