Why the Trump administration is revoking international student visas

Students from California to Ohio to North Carolina are losing their visas with no explanation, being taken off the street by plainclothes officers and finding themselves subject to accusations reserved for terrorists.

Students from California to Ohio to North Carolina are losing their visas with no explanation, being taken off the street by plainclothes officers and finding themselves subject to accusations reserved for terrorists.  

As of Wednesday, authorities had revoked the visas of international students in at least 32 states, according to NBC News analysis. Officials are largely citing a seldom-used 1952 foreign policy statute to take aim at their activism. Others’ visas have been terminated seemingly for past charges like DUIs.

Attorneys and advocates say it seems as though people who have protested in support of Palestinians, those with previous arrests and those with certain political social media posts are the likeliest to have been swept up.  

The focus on international students is part of the Trump administration’s larger immigration crackdown and deportation machine, immigration attorneys and policy experts say, with immigrants of all statuses being scrutinized.