WESTWOOD—On April 5, the University of California (UCLA) student newspaper, The Daily Bruin, announced that the U.S. Government has revoked the Visas of several students on campus who were studying in the U.S. under the Student and Exchange Visitor (SEVIS) program.
The following statement came directly from “The Daily Bruin”:
“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.”
On April 4, at approximately 10:00 p.m., the Undergraduate Student Association President, Adam Tfayli, reportedly sent out an email confirming that some of the UCLA students were impacted [detained].
UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk confirmed that there were no reported Federal Law Enforcement Agencies/ICE agents on campus.
“At this time, UCLA is not aware of any federal law enforcement activity on campus related to these terminations.”
The Daily Bruin indicated that the termination of the student’s visa’s may be due to their involvement in pro-Palestine protests.
On April 5, Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a press release in response to the revocation of Sudanese students Visas:
“It is time for the Transitional Government of South Sudan to stop taking advantage of the United States. Enforcing our nation’s immigration laws is critically important to the national security and public safety of the United States. Every country must accept the return of its citizens in a timely manner when another country, including the United States, seeks to remove them.
As South Sudan’s transitional government has failed to fully respect this principle, effective immediately, the United States Department of State is taking actions to revoke all visas held by South Sudanese passport holders and prevent further issuance to prevent entry into the United States by South Sudanese passport holders. We will be prepared to review these actions when South Sudan is in full cooperation.”
