Trump administration targets more international students at Oregon universities

Federal officials have ordered the removal of nearly two dozen international students across Oregon — including from both flagships state universities and two Portland institutions.

The largest count was at Oregon State University, where 13 student visas have been revoked, a spokesperson said Thursday.

Portland Community College and Portland State University also each confirmed three revocations. PSU said one of the students had recently graduated but was residing under a work authorization.

The University of Oregon reported four visa revocations earlier this week, saying that each was due to unspecified criminal charges.

That means 23 total students must leave the country in two weeks or risk arrest and deportation.

Portland Community College, PSU and OSU said they had received no communication from federal authorities explaining why the students lost their F-1 visas.

OSU spokesperson Rob Odom wrote in a campus-wide email that the university was now checking for revocations more frequently given “the suddenness of these federal agency-initiated actions.”

“International students and employees who otherwise maintain their immigration status are typically not at risk of having their immigration status terminated suddenly, arbitrarily or without notification,” he said.

Oregon State has roughly 2,500 enrolled international students this year.

In a campus message, PSU President Ann Cudd vowed to hold firm to PSU’s status as a sanctuary campus.

“This is deeply troubling,” she wrote.

PSU has about 750 international students, plus 450 recent graduates whose visa status was extended due to a work authorization.

PCC spokesperson James Hill noted that, in past years, visa terminations were usually “initiated by schools for non-compliance,” rather than by the federal government.

PCC has more than 300 international students.

It is not clear why the OSU, PSU and PCC international students lost their legal permission to study here. Federal officials have cited pro-Palestinian activism as well as non-political criminal activity as reasons for visa revocations.

Many Oregon universities were rocked by protests last year. In Corvallis, students chained themselves to a central administrative building in a five-day “lock out,” while protesters in Portland occupied PSU’s main library for three nights, inflicting about $750,000 in property damage.

Across the country, several high profile pro-Palestinian student activists have been detained by immigration authorities. National news sources have estimated the total number of visa revocations personally approved by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio at somewhere between 150 and 300.

A spokesperson for Lewis & Clark College, Lori Friedman, said that while none of the school’s 158 international students had lost their visas so far, fears were mounting among the student body.

“A number of students remained on campus during spring break rather than risk not being able to return,” she said.

Officials at Oregon Health & Science University, Southern Oregon University, Western Oregon University, Eastern Oregon University, Mt. Hood Community College, Clackamas Community College, Lane Community College, Rogue Community College, Linn-Benton Community College, Reed College, George Fox University, Pacific University, Willamette University, Linfield University and the Oregon Institute of Technology also reported no visa revocations.

The University of Portland declined to answer the newsroom’s query.

Central Oregon Community College is not currently authorized to enroll international students, according to a spokesperson.

Other Oregon colleges and universities didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

—Zane Sparling covers breaking news and courts for The Oregonian/OregonLive. Reach him at 503-319-7083, [email protected] or @pdxzane.

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