Some international students at the University of Maryland have had their legal status in the U.S. unexpectedly terminated by the federal government, this university confirmed in a statement to The Diamondback Tuesday.
This university did not comment on how many students had their legal statuses revoked. This university’s International Students and Scholars Services office is communicating with impacted people to give specific information about their situations, this university wrote.
More than 4,990 international students attend this university, according to the office. International students make up more than 40 percent of this university’s graduate student population, according to the graduate admissions website.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a March 27 news conference that potentially more than 300 F-1 visas — which international students use to pursue academic studies in the U.S. — have been revoked since President Donald Trump took office in January.
“If you come into the United States as a visitor and create a ruckus for us we don’t want it,” Rubio said during the press conference. “Go back and do it in your country but you’re not going to do it in our country.”
The Trump administration has revoked F-1 visas of students who have spoken out against the Israeli government, including students from protests at Columbia University.
Students have hosted multiple pro-Palestinian demonstrations at this university, but it is unknown if any participating students have had their visa statuses removed as a result.
[UMD community members demand university protects international students at office protest]
Pro-Palestinian protests and demonstrations have increased across the country since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, in which it killed about 1,200 people and took about 250 people hostage. Israel has killed more than 50,000 Palestinians in Gaza since it declared war on Hamas the next day, the Associated Press reported Tuesday.
International students at other universities across Maryland have also had their visas revoked.
About a dozen Johns Hopkins University graduate students and recent graduates had their F-1 visas revoked by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the university announced Tuesday. Four students from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County have also had their visas terminated, The Baltimore Sun reported Tuesday.
The federal government also revoked F-1 visas from international students at multiple other universities across the country, the Associated Press reported Monday.
The U.S. State Department said on Saturday it would revoke visas for all people with South Sudanese passports. According to the ISSS office’s website, one undergraduate student from South Sudan was enrolled at this university in fall 2024.
The U.S. House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party sent a letter to this university in March asking for information on Chinese nationals attending this university, including programs these students participate in, research they conduct and laboratories they work in.
This university plans to respond to the letter by April 25 with information, while obeying state and federal privacy laws and not providing personally identifiable information, according to the university’s government relations office.
