The US government’s recent crackdown on international students has raised concerns, particularly among Indian students. According to a report by the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), about half of the 327 recent visa revocations collected by the organisation have been of Indian students. The AILA brief, titled ‘The Scope of Immigration Enforcement Actions Against International Students’, highlights that 50 per cent of these students were from India, followed by 14 per cent from China. Other countries represented in the data include South Korea, Nepal, and Bangladesh.

The US State Department and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have been screening foreign students’ data, including their activism, over the past four months. Some allege that this screening is done using artificial intelligence, which may lead to inaccurate targeting of students without a criminal history or links to campus protests. In March, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the “Catch and Revoke” program to identify and screen student visa holders, including monitoring their social media for evidence of anti-Semitism or support for Palestinians and Hamas.

The Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) is a portal used by the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to track international students and exchange program visitors. According to an ICE release, the visa status of 4,736 international students was terminated in the SEVIS system, mostly holding F1 visas. AILA described these administrative actions as unprecedented, raising several legal questions that may require litigation.

The impact of these visa revocations is significant, with 50 per cent of the 327 cases being Optional Practical Training (OPT) holders. OPT allows international students on F-1 visas to work in the US for up to 12 months. With their visas revoked, these students are now unable to work. The top states affected by these visa revocations are Texas, California, New York, Michigan, and Arizona.

However, its worthwhile to note that, around 1,000 international students at U.S. colleges, universities and university systems have had their visas revoked or their legal status terminated since late March, according to an Associated Press review of university statements and correspondence with school officials.

Many of the students losing their legal status are from India and China, which together account for more than half the international students at American colleges. But the terminations have not been limited to those from any one part of the world, lawyers said.

The Indian government has taken notice of the issue. Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated, “We are aware that several Indian students have received communication from the US government regarding their F-1 visa status. We are looking into the matter. Our Embassy and consulate are in touch with the students.”