U.S. government revokes two University of Idaho international students’ visas

MOSCOW (The Spokesman-Review) — Two international University of Idaho students had their visas revoked this month during the wave of Trump administration crackdowns on foreign students, a school spokesperson said Friday.

The university declined to offer any more information on the students, including their nationality, citing the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, a federal law that protects student records.

As of Tuesday, the university said it had no known record of any student visa revocations. Two days later, the university followed up and stated one student lost their visa. On Friday, the university said there are now two. It’s unclear whether the students will be deported or why their visas were revoked.

The move comes after federal Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered his diplomats to scour student visa applications and investigate the students’ social media, according to reporting by the New York Times. The Times reported Rubio is looking for “someone who is suspected of having terrorist ties or sympathies; who had a student or exchange visa between Oct. 7, 2023, and Aug. 31, 2024; or who has had a visa terminated since that October date.”

President Donald Trump also issued an executive order in January, stating he will revoke all visas of students who participate in protests against Israel related to the war in Gaza because of his belief that the protests are antisemitic.

“To all the resident aliens who joined in the pro-jihadist protests, we put you on notice: come 2025, we will find you, and we will deport you. I will also quickly cancel the student visas of all Hamas sympathizers on college campuses, which have been infested with radicalism like never before,” Trump’s order states.

Almost exactly one year ago, students on the UI campus held a peaceful pro-Palestine demonstration outside of the school’s library, according to the Argonaut, the school’s student newspaper.

Graduate student Nick Koenig is concerned the visas could have been revoked because of similar protests on the school’s campus. If it’s not because of that, Koenig says the students need more information.

“I have been at every protest on campus since moving here, and there has been no criminal activity. We held a protest after Trump was elected and there was a counterprotest. We had beautiful dialogue with them afterward,” Koenig said. “If this is about any sort of criminal activity, I want a justification for it.”

In response to inquiries about UI, the State Department said via email it would not disclose information due to “privacy considerations” and “visa confidentiality.”

The State Department included in its response: “The United States has zero tolerance for noncitizens who violate U.S. laws. Those who break the law, including students, may face visa refusal, visa revocation, and/or deportation.”

On March 28, Rubio said the government has revoked about 300 visas and there “might be more” following the detainment of a Tufts University doctoral student from Turkey. The student, 30-year-old Rumeysa Ozturk, wrote an opinion piece in The Tufts Daily last year asking the school to “acknowledge the Palestinian genocide.”

When Rubio was asked about Ozturk’s arrest and detainment, he responded that the activities “run counter to the foreign policy of the United States.” He later said, “I just think it’s crazy to continue to provide visas so people can come here and advocate for policies that are in direct contradiction of our national interest.”

Koenig believes accepting international students is beneficial for schools – not just in Idaho, but everywhere.

“It’s important we have international students on our campus,” Koenig said. “I believe fully in bringing in international voices.”

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