Several graduate students at the University of Kentucky have had their visas taken away by the Department of Homeland Security, school leaders said Friday evening.
Pope Eli Capilouto said in a news release that the change will affect “a small number of international graduate students at UK.” It wasn’t said how many students were impacted. The Trump administration has been going after attempts at colleges and universities across the country to improve diversity, fairness, and inclusion.
“We understand the effects that losing a visa or status has on our students,” Capilouto said.
“I also know that this news will make a lot of people wonder.” We are trying to figure out how the new federal rules affect many college campuses. If our foreign students have any questions or concerns about immigration, they should contact foreign Student and Scholar Services.
A student with an F-1 visa can come to the United States to attend college or university.
The Associated Press says that students whose visas have been canceled are being told to leave the country right away.
Capilouto said, “The university will always follow the law.” “We will also make it very clear that our more than 1,300 international students and scholars are important parts of this unique community.”
When the Herald-Leader asked on Friday evening if UK students who found out their visas had been canceled would be able to stay in school and how many students were affected, a UK spokesperson, Jay Blanton, said he did not have any more information to give.
News outlets said that student visas were also in danger at the University of Cincinnati and the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, two other universities in the area.
Four current students and one past student who was working on campus at Tennessee had their visas taken away.
Donald Trump threatened to deport foreign students who took part in pro-Palestinian protests while he was running for president. Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil was arrested and held until he could be sent back to his home country in March. It was the first arrest that the public knew about as a result of Trump’s crackdown on college students.
Also in March, the U.S. Department of Education said it would look into the diversity, equity, and inclusion programs at more than 50 colleges, including UK.
Later, the university said it had cut links with The Ph.D. Project, a networking group for doctoral students that it thought led to the investigation.
At the time, Capilouto said that the only thing UK students did for the school was go to an annual conference.
