International students in D.C. area face visa cancellations
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The Trump administration's crackdown on student visas is rattling DMV colleges.
Why it matters: D.C.-area campuses attract many foreign students.
State of play: The government yanked the visas of 15 students at George Mason University, the school announced in a letter last week, reports ABC7.
- GMU said the visas were canceled without prior notice. The school is trying to find out why the students were targeted.
- "We will do whatever the law permits to assist our students, and we are actively exploring what those options may be," the university said in a statement.
Georgetown University said 10 community members are at risk of having their visas revoked, after their F1 or J1 status was terminated in the Federal Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, ABC7 reports. The university doesn't know why their immigration status was terminated, the school said in a statement.
- Howard University said three students were affected.
- George Washington University told ABC7 a "small number of students" had their visas terminated.
Zoom out: The Trump administration has revoked the visas of hundreds of international students nationwide in recent weeks — some for affiliation with pro-Palestinian protests, others for a crime or traffic offense. For some, the reason is unknown.
- For example, a student at Emerson College and a doctoral candidate at Dartmouth College who never partook in protests or had any criminal record were among those stripped of their visas.
Between the lines: If the widespread student visa revocations continue, universities that rely on high tuition fees from international students could suffer financially.
- An estimated 1 million international students generate more than $40 billion for American higher education each year, per a 2024 article by The World.
In D.C. alone, international students contributed more than $572 million to the U.S. economy during the 2023-24 school year, per an analysis from NAFSA, a nonprofit focused on international education.