Five UMass International Students’ Visas Revoked

Last Friday, University of Massachusetts, Amherst Chancellor Javier Reyes alerted students in an email that five international students’ visas were revoked and their “student statuses [were] terminated by the federal government.” The reasons for the government’s actions were not stated in the email.

In a statement released on Sunday, the university said that it did not play any role in the federal administration’s “action in terminating the status” of UMass students.

“UMass Amherst was not asked for information in advance by the federal government, did not provide information concerning the revocations to the federal government, and was not notified by the federal government of these status terminations,” the statement said.

UMass also clarified in the statement that “these visa revocations have no known connection with either the campus’ federally mandated participation in active OCR Title VI complaint processes or with students’ engagement in activism.”

In his email, Reyes affirmed the university’s support for its international community and stressed the importance of the community to the university’s mission.

“I want to stress how important our international community is to the vitality of our campus and assure every international student and scholar at UMass of our unwavering support as we confront this new reality,” he wrote.

“We are working closely with the UMass system, the governor, the attorney general, and legislators at both the state and federal level to ensure that we remain true to our mission and that our legacy as a global campus lives on,” Reyes wrote.