Quick Take
UC Santa Cruz officials announced on Sunday that the Trump administration canceled the F-1 records of three international students. UCSC joins a list of California universities that in the past week learned about the federal government’s cancellation of dozens of student visas.
The Trump administration has cancelled the visas of three UC Santa Cruz international students, campus officials confirmed, as universities across California grapple with a wave of similar visa terminations by the federal government.
UCSC Chancellor Cynthia Larive on Sunday announced that the Trump administration had cancelled the F-1 visas of three international students, revoking their authorization to stay in the United States.
“The federal government has not detailed the reasons behind these terminations,” she wrote in a campus message. “We have notified the three students and are in direct contact with them to provide support.”
Officials at Stanford, UCLA, UC Berkeley and UC San Diego, among others, made similar announcements within the past week. UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk said in a statement on Sunday that the university was aware of six current students there who had their F-1 records cancelled.
“The termination notices indicate that all terminations were due to violations of the terms of the individuals’ visa programs,” Frenk wrote. “At this time, UCLA is not aware of any federal law enforcement activity on campus related to these terminations.”
Jess Fournier, the vice chair of UCSC’s graduate student union, said the terminations are “incredibly disturbing.” Fournier added that they didn’t have more information on the circumstances of the terminations or the students involved beyond what was released in Larive’s statement but said that the union and university officials are working on how to best respond.
“There are a lot of people that are working to figure out how we can protect our whole community,” they said.
On Friday, the University of California released a statement saying it was aware of students at several of its campuses who had been impacted by the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System terminations. SEVIS is a system within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security used by government agencies to monitor the status of international students and exchange visitors in the country.
“This is a fluid situation, and we continue to monitor and assess its implications for the UC community and the people affected,” officials wrote. “We are committed to doing what we can to support all members of our community as they exercise their rights under the law. In doing that, the University will continue to follow all applicable state and federal laws.”
UC Santa Cruz spokesperson Abby Butler didn’t reply to Lookout’s questions about how the university was responding or who the students were, but said “we’re seeking more clarity on the impacts of this action and are focused on supporting our students.”
Larive wrote in her statement that the university understands that the recent federal immigration actions “may cause fear and grave concern.”
“We reiterate our strong support for all international students and scholars. UC Santa Cruz is enriched by the contributions of our international community members, and we are fortunate to research, teach, and learn with and from such outstanding students and scholars.”
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FOR THE RECORD: This story has been updated to include comments from Jess Fournier, vice chair of UCSC’s graduate student union, and UCSC spokesperson Abby Butler.
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