The Department of Homeland Security has revoked the F-1 visas of three international students at Montana State University, according to a letter sent Friday from university President Waded Cruzado obtained by Montana Free Press.
MSU discovered Thursday that the three visas had been revoked during a routine check on the status of visas across the university’s more than 400 international students, according to Vice President of University Communications Tracy Ellig. The federal government has not otherwise been in contact with MSU about the revocations, Ellig said.
Cruzado sent out a brief email to MSU community members informing them of the revoked visas, though she did not include information about the impacted students, writing that “federal laws, and our own campus policies, protect student privacy.” University spokespeople also declined to offer additional details on the students’ identities.
An F-1 visa allows a foreign national to live in the United States while receiving formal education. According to Ellig, Montana State University has educated international students for more than 40 years.
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday afternoon.
The State Department, led by President Donald Trump’s Secretary of State Marco Rubio, has changed the legal status of more than 800 international students and recent graduates, according to a database maintained by Inside Higher Ed.
Some students have had visas revoked for expressing pro-Palestian viewpoints, often through activism or editorials, while others have been targeted for legal infractions.
“No one has a right to a visa. These are things that we decide,” said Rubio in comments to the press in late March. “We deny visas every day for all kinds of reasons all over the world.”
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