Deported over a speeding ticket? Dozens of US students’ visas abruptly revoked
Nearly 40 students report canceled visas over minor infractions as Trump intensifies crackdown on universities
Ava Hu in Berkeley, California
Mon 7 Apr 2025
Lisa
was eating takeout at a friend’s place when the email from her
university landed. She clicked into her inbox and skimmed the message:
“ISS [International Student Services] is writing to inform you that your SEVIS record was terminated …”
The wording felt unfamiliar. She read it again, but it still sounded like a scam – absurd and unreal.
Lisa
is an international student at the University of Wisconsin–Madison,
just one month away from graduation. She asked to use a pseudonym due to
concerns about retaliation and an ongoing legal case.
Before
going to bed, she found someone posted a similar notice on social
media. It was through these posts that Lisa understood what the email
had actually meant: with her Student and Exchange Visitor Information
System record terminated, she was now considered out of status in the
US. Staying could mean violating immigration laws.
The
Department of Homeland Security maintains the Sevis database that
tracks international students and scholars on F, M and J visas. Once a
Sevis record is terminated, a student’s legal status becomes immediately
invalid. They must either leave the US within the grace period,
typically 15 days, or take steps to restore their status. Otherwise,
they risk deportation and future visa restrictions.
She
dug through comment sections. Joined group chats. Searched for
patterns. One emerged: most of the affected students had been
fingerprinted. Some had been cited for non-criminal offenses, but the
messages they received said they had criminal records.
That’s
when she remembered: a year ago, she was driving home when she got two
speeding tickets: one for speeding and another for failing to stop. She
hadn’t seen the police car behind her until it was too late. To get the
charges dismissed, she showed up in court, where she was fingerprinted.
Lisa
is one of several students across states who found their legal status
revoked by the US government on 4 April, without prior notice or clear
explanation. University statements show that at least 39 students have
been affected, including UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC San Diego, Stanford, Ohio
State, the University of Tennessee, the University of Kentucky,
Minnesota State University and the University of Oregon.
An
online self-reported data sheet created by affected students suggests
the issue may be more widespread. Students from 50 universities reported
their visas were canceled around 4 April, with many noting that they
had prior records, some limited to citations or non-criminal offenses.
Photograph: Faith Ninivaggi/Reuters
This secret wave of revocation came a few days after the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio,
announced the revocation of 300 or more student visas. “We do it every
day. Every time I find one of these lunatics, I take away their visas,”
he said at a news conference on 27 March, referring to students he
described as national security threats.
Lisa’s
university had included a screenshot of her Sevis record in the
message. Termination was logged on 4 April by a system administrator,
with a note: “Individual identified in criminal records check and/or has
had their VISA revoked.”
Shenqi Cai, a California immigration
attorney and managing attorney at Lashine Law, said she got the first
call from a student on 3 April. “At the time, we thought it was a
one-off. It seemed strange.”
But by Friday,
more cases kept coming in. She contacted designated school officials at
several partner universities and confirmed that the terminations were
visible in the Sevis system.
Cai said this
round of Sevis terminations appeared to be unprecedented. “Students
weren’t given any chance to explain their situation. As long as the
system flagged them, what we believe is a kind of criminal screening
trigger, they were terminated under one broad directive.”
Based
on the information collected so far, Cai said about 90% of the affected
students had been fingerprinted. But she explained that the criteria
used to flag students can vary by state. “Each state defines these
triggers differently. The thresholds are inconsistent. A student may be
arrested in one state, but that doesn’t mean they’ll be convicted,
because the power to decide guilt or innocence lies with the judge.”
David,
a Chinese student who completed his undergraduate degree, was
immediately unable to continue working. He requested a pseudonym due to
fears of retaliation and an ongoing legal case.
In
2024, David was reported to police after a verbal argument with his
partner. When officers arrived, they were still arguing, but there was
no physical contact, he said. Because of a language barrier, his partner
couldn’t clearly explain what had happened. David was detained
overnight and later ordered to appear in court.
“My
partner wrote a statement to the prosecutor explaining it wasn’t
domestic violence,” he said. The charge was eventually dropped. Court
records show the case was dismissed with prejudice, and the judge
ordered the arrest record and biometric data to be destroyed.
Three years later, David received a Sevis termination notice.
Unlike
enrolled F-1 students, David is working under Optional Practical
Training, a work authorization linked to the Sevis system. Once a Sevis
record is terminated, that authorization ends and is nearly impossible
to recover.
David was nearing the end of his
first year of employment when he got the notice on Friday. He scheduled a
lunch meeting with his manager, who said the company would try to help
him relocate to Canada. But because the termination took effect
immediately, he was subjected to the 15-day departure rule.
“I
told my family, and they felt just as powerless,” he said. “But we
don’t come from wealth, and there’s not a lot they can do.”
Bill
is facing the same dilemma. He graduated in December 2024 and is
currently job-hunting. He asked not to use his real name due to a
pending case.
In early 2025, Bill hit another
car while making a turn. At the time, his driver’s license had just
expired. Police cited him for driving with an expired license. After
renewing it, he followed the instructions and appeared in court.
“I
went with a temporary license. The court staff were friendly,” he said.
“One even joked, ‘This is no big deal, handsome,’ while taking my
fingerprints and photos. It felt like a scene out of a movie.”
His
initial appearance only involved ID verification. When he asked if the
hearing could be held that day, a staff member told him it was scheduled
for May and suggested he come back then.
“I
thought it was fine. My license was updated, I just had to show up
again.” But on 3 April, he suddenly received a notice from the school
that his Sevis record had been terminated.
Now,
Bill has no idea what to do. Legally, he should leave the country
immediately, but his case is still open and he’s required to appear in
court in May. He doesn’t know whether showing up would put him at risk
of detention.
On 4 April, he met with his
university’s international office. Staff there were willing to help, he
said, but had few tools. They asked him to write a personal statement,
which they promised to pass along to university leadership. The only
formal support offered was a referral to a discounted lawyer – $150 an
hour.
Boston University students protest outside the office of the dean of students on 3 April 2025. Photograph: Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
“The dust of history falls on me, and it becomes a mountain. That’s all there is to it,” he said.
By
Sunday evening, the panic had spread. Three hundred students joined a
Zoom info session hosted by Brad Banias, a federal court immigration
litigator and former justice department trial attorney. Questions poured
into the chat box: “Should we leave our apartments right now in case
ICE shows up?” “Will an unpaid parking ticket be a problem?”
Banias
called the terminations a political move, not a legal one. “It makes me
angry to see 19-year-olds just trying to study, and suddenly a parking
ticket they didn’t even know about shows up on a criminal background
check,” he said. “Don’t let them convince you it’s reasonable to leave
the country over a parking ticket.”
For Lisa,
the future was just starting to take shape. She is about to graduate in
one month, with a job offer and grad school acceptance. But now, she
said she wasn’t even sure if she should go to class on Monday.
Back
in April 2024, she was pulled over in Madison for speeding. She hadn’t
noticed the patrol car behind her right away, and by the time she
stopped, two officers approached. One told her not to worry – it was her
first offense, and all she needed to do was pay the fine. But the other
issued two citations: one for speeding, the other for failing to stop.
They told her it was just a miscommunication, something she could clear up in court.
But that never really happened.
“My
first court date was just for ID,” she said. “They fingerprinted me,
took a photo, measured my height. The judge barely said anything. No
hearing, just a new court date.”
She asked if
the case could be resolved sooner and was told to schedule an online
meeting. She did. During that meeting, the case was dropped. No record.
They asked if she accepted. She said yes.
Everything
after that went smoothly: her work visa was approved, the company
background checks cleared, and she had no trouble leaving and
re-entering the country. She thought it was behind her.
Then the email came.
“I
don’t know if I’m still allowed to graduate,” she said. “If I don’t get
my degree, does the grad school still take me? Does the company push
back the offer? Worst case, I don’t graduate. I go home and start
college again. Four more years. And then what?”