Jayapal Leads 142 Members in Demanding Answers Regarding the Revocation of Student Visas

WASHINGTON, DC — U.S. Representative Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Ranking Member of the Immigration Integrity, Security, and Enforcement Subcommittee, is leading 142 Members of Congress in demanding answers regarding the termination of students’ legal status. Despite the Trump Administration’s claim last week that it would reverse course, only Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has made any policy change.  While students are no longer immediately deportable, they will be unable to return to the United States once they go home after the semester ends, as the State Department is not restoring students’ visa status. 

“This is not about national security. It is about using immigration enforcement as a weapon to stifle political dissent, restrict due process, and enforce an exclusionary and nativist vision of America that runs counter to everything our institutions of higher learning stand for,” wrote the Members. “Across the country, students are being picked up – in some cases by masked immigration agents in unmarked cars – and being held in detention facilities with no warning and limited information as to why they are being deported.”

According to recent reporting, more than 1,800 students and recent graduates across 280 colleges and universities have had their visas revoked. Since Trump took office, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has also confirmed that at least 4,736 have had their legal status terminated in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS). However, DHS does not have the authority to terminate this legal status except under very specific circumstances, none of which have been met in the vast majority of these cases.

“Our campuses have been spaces where students and scholars from around the world come together to challenge assumptions, push the boundaries of knowledge, and foster the innovation that has made our country a global leader,” continued the Members. “But today, the Trump administration’s heavy-handed and politically motivated immigration enforcement is turning university campuses into places of fear, rather than learning, and these actions deter students from coming to study at U.S. institutions.”

Reporting has also shown that the State Department has been using Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools to identify students to target through their social media accounts. This aspect is especially troubling as social media accounts may not feature students’ names, and AI facial recognition is often prone to mistakes, at significantly higher rates when identifying people of color.

The full text of the letter can be read here. 

The letter was signed by Pramila Jayapal (WA-07), Jamie Raskin (MD-08), Gabe Amo (RI-01), Yassamin Ansari (AZ-03), Jake Auchincloss (MA-04), Becca Balint (VT-At Large), Nanette Barragán (CA-44), Joyce Beatty (OH-03), Wesley Bell (MO-01), Ami Bera (CA-06), Donald S. Beyer, Jr. (VA-08), Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), Shontel Brown (OH-11), Julia Brownley (CA-26), Nikki Budzinski (IL-13), Salud Carbajal (CA-24), André Carson (IN-07), Troy Carter (LA-02), Greg Casar (TX-35), Sean Casten (IL-06), Kathy Castor (FL-14), Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Judy Chu (CA-28), Gilbert Cisneros (CA-31), Yvette Clarke (NY-09), Emanuel Cleaver (MO-05), Steve Cohen (TN-09), Gerald Connolly (VA-11), J. Luis Correa (CA-46), Angie Craig (MN-02), Jason Crow (CO-06), Danny K. Davis (IL-07), Madeleine Dean (PA-04), Diana DeGette (CO-01), Rosa DeLauro (CT-03), Suzan DelBene (WA-01), Chris Deluzio (PA-17), Mark DeSaulnier (CA-10), Maxine Dexter (OR-03), Lloyd Doggett (TX-37), Veronica Escobar (TX-16), Adriano Espaillat (NY-13), Dwight Evans (PA-03), Cleo Fields (LA-06), Lizzie Fletcher (TX-07), Bill Foster (IL-11), Valerie Foushee (NC-04), Laura Friedman (CA-30), Maxwell Frost (FL-10), John Garamendi (CA-08), Jesús “Chuy” García (IL-04), Robert Garcia (CA-42), Sylvia Garcia (TX-29), Jimmy Gomez (CA-34), Maggie Goodlander (NH-02), Al Green (TX-09), Jahana Hayes (CT-05), Jim Himes (CT-04), Steven Horsford (NV-04), Val Hoyle (OR-04), Jared Huffman (CA-02), Glenn Ivey (MD-04), Jonathan Jackson (IL-01), Sara Jacobs (CA-51), Henry C. “Hank” Johnson, Jr. (GA-04), Julie Johnson (TX-32), Sydney Kamlager-Dove (CA-37), William Keating (MA-09), Robin Kelly (IL-02), Timothy Kennedy (NY-26), Ro Khanna (CA-17), Raja Krishnamoorthi (IL-08), Rick Larsen (WA-02), John Larson (CT-01), Summer Lee (PA-12), Teresa Leger Fernandez (NM-03), Mike Levin (CA-49), Sam Liccardo (CA-16), Ted Lieu (CA-36), Zoe Lofgren (CA-18), Stephen Lynch (MA-08), Seth Magaziner (RI-02), John Mannion (NY-22), Doris Matsui (CA-07), Jennifer McClellan (VA-04), Betty McCollum (MN-04), James P. McGovern (MA-02), LaMonica McIver (NJ-10), Gregory Meeks (NY-05), Robert Menendez (NJ-08), Dave Min (CA-47), Gwen Moore (WI-04), Joe Morelle (NY-25), Kelly Morrison (MN-03), Seth Moulton (MA-06), Kevin Mullin (CA-15), Jerrold Nadler (NY-12), Eleanor Holmes Norton (DC), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), Johnny Olszewski (MD-02), Ilhan Omar (MN-05), Jimmy Panetta (CA-19), Nancy Pelosi (CA-11), Scott Peters (CA-50), Brittany Pettersen (CO-07), Chellie Pingree (ME-01), Mark Pocan (WI-02), Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), Mike Quigley (IL-05), Delia Ramirez (IL-03), Emily Randall (WA-06), Luz Rivas (CA-29), Deborah Ross (NC-02), Andrea Salinas (OR-06), Linda Sánchez (CA-38), Mary Gay Scanlon (PA-05), Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), Robert C. “Bobby” Scott (VA-03), Terri Sewell (AL-07), Lateefah Simon (CA-12), Adam Smith (WA-09), Melanie Stansbury (NM-01), Marilyn Strickland (WA-10), Suhas Subramanyam (VA-10), Eric Swalwell (CA-14), Mark Takano (CA-39), Shri Thanedar (MI-13), Mike Thompson (CA-04), Bennie G. Thompson (MS-02), Dina Titus (NV-01), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), Jill Tokuda (HI-02), Paul Tonko (NY-20), Lori Trahan (MA-03), Lauren Underwood (IL-14), Juan Vargas (CA-52), Gabe Vasquez (NM-02), Marc Veasey (TX-33), Nydia M. Velázquez (NY-07), Maxine Waters (CA-43), Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12), and Nikema Williams (GA-05).

It was also endorsed by AFL-CIO; American Friends of Combatants for Peace; American Friends Service Committee; Amnesty International USA; Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC; Asian Americans Advancing Justice | Chicago; Asian Americans Advancing Justice Southern California; Brooklyn for Peace; Center for Constitutional Rights; Center for International Policy Advocacy; Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA); CODEPINK; Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR); DAWN; Friends Committee on National Legislation; Habonim Dror North America; Hindus for Human Rights; HIstorians for Peace and Democracy; IfNotNow Movement ; Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights; IMEU Policy Project; Immigrant Legal Resource Center (ILRC); Indivisible; International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW); J Street; Jewish Voice for Peace Action; MADRE; Minnesota Peace Project; MPower Change Action Fund; National Immigrant Justice Center; New Jewish Narrative; Nonviolence International; OneAmerica; Partners for Progressive Israel; Peace Action; Presbyterian Church (USA), Office of Public Witness; Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration; Reconsider; Service Employees International Union (SEIU); Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC); Stop AAPI Hate; United Church of Christ.

Issues: Arts & Education, Immigration