ICE Arrests Another International Student As State Department Revokes 300 Foreign Student Visas

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested a University of Minnesota (UMN) graduate student Thursday as the Department of State moved to revoke about 300 foreign student visas.

UMN authorities announced the ICE arrest occurred at an off-campus residence, calling the situation “deeply disturbing.” The Minnesota Daily vaguely identified the graduate student as an international student in the university’s  Carlson School of Management.

“The University had no prior knowledge of this incident and did not share any information with federal authorities before it occurred,” university leadership said. They also offered mental health support to any member of the university distressed by the incident.

“Carlson School staff have been in close contact, monitoring the situation and helping connect the student with resources and support,” Dean Jamie Prenkert wrote, adding that “[i]n the current climate, detentions like these deeply affect our community.”

The arrest occured as Secretary of State Marco Rubio, while meeting Thursday with Guyanese President Irfaan Ali, told reporters the State Department had revoked an estimated 300 international student visas.

“It might be more than 300 at this point. We do it every day. Every time I find one of these lunatics, I take away their visa,” Rubio said.

Prospective international students who intend to join “movements that are involved in doing things like vandalizing universities, harassing students, taking over buildings, creating a ruckus” will not receive study visas, Rubio added. Should such students receive their visas under false pretenses and then join such movements while in the U.S., they would lose their visas, he said.

“Now, once you’ve lost your visa, you’re no longer legally in the United States, and we have a right, like every country in the world has a right, to remove you from our country. So it’s just that simple,” Rubio told reporters.

ICE arrested Columbia University student and prominent pro-Palestine protester Mahmoud Khalil on March 8. The State Department revoked his green card as prosecutors argued Khalil did not disclose his work with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) while applying to be a U.S. legal permanent resident.

Fellow Columbia student Ranjani Srinivasan fled the U.S. for Canada after her study visa was revoked. In a letter to a France-based group of pro-Palestine academics narrating her experience, she alleged the university cooperated with law enforcement to target her.

Yunseo Chung, another Columbia student and legal permanent resident, became the object of an ICE search and decided to sue the Trump administration, The New York Times reported. U.S. District Court Judge Naomi Buchwald reportedly ruled Tuesday that ICE must stop trying to arrest and deport Chung. (RELATED: Wanted Foreign Student Protesters Cook Up Preemptive Lawsuits To Ward Off ICE Deportation)

“After the constant dread in the back of my mind over the past few weeks, [Buchwald’s] decision feels like a million pounds off of my chest. I feel like I could fly,” Chung told The Guardian.

Rumesya Ozturk, a 30-year-old Tufts University student, was also taken off the street Tuesday. U.S. District Court Judge Denise Casper issued a temporary restraining order Friday blocking her deportation, The Associated Press reported.

In addition, ICE asked twice-suspended Cornell University international student Momodou Taal to surrender after he preemptively sued the Trump administration.