Donald Trump’s administration has decided to be petty enough not to allow international students who commit petty crimes to get away. The US government has started taking drastic measures by deporting students for something as small as shoplifting. Hundreds of international students have been asked to immediately leave the country after they suddenly received an email.
International students seem to be the next group on the Trump administration’s deportation list. The Republican and his government have been heavily scrutinized for their aggressive and chaotic deportation process since the start of his term.
The first to go were gang members of dangerous gangs, or at least that’s what the President and his administration labelled these immigrants. The ICE arrested hundreds of people residing in America and placed them in a high-security prison in El Salvador.
Several of the people are now spending their time in the Terrorism Confinement Center were arrested and sent to prison based on next to no evidence. Hundreds of international students were arrested and deported by the government because they allegedly engaged in “activities in support of Hamas.”
The recent wave of mass deportation hit when several Indian students studying in the US received mail informing them that their visas had been revoked. The mails were sent to these students by their Designated School Officials.
More F1 student visas revoked! 8 ASU students are the latest targets. Few details about this other than:
-not related to protests
– none is from Latin American countries
– the letters received by the students allegedly contain no reasons for the revocations
Sounds like more…
— Nicolette Glazer (@NicoletteGlazer) April 3, 2025
The mail also detailed how the students were required to leave the country immediately. The emails mentioned how the individuals were being deported due to the offences they had committed. The most common amongst them were improper lane changes, drunk driving, and shoplifting.
According to a New York Times report, 147 students have already been deported from the country. A few students from Hyderabad spoke to TOI and revealed that they had already done their due diligence after being charged, and the charges against them were months old.
Amidst the sudden deportations, fewer F1 visas are being issued by the US government. 2.79 lakh applicants out of 6.79 lakhs who applied faced rejection. The total number of visas given out last year was 4.45 lakh. The number of issued visas stood at 4.01 lakh this year.
Today many Chinese students reported online that their F1 visa got revoked, including undergrads and those who are currently in the US. This is way beyond my prediction that repression only comes to PhD students.
— Jian Ren 任健 (@JianRen12) September 9, 2020
It can be observed that the number of visas given out to Indian applicants has declined sharply in comparison to the previous years. Last year, from the months of January to September, only 63,973 Indian applicants received a visa. While 1.03 lakh applicants had received their visa around the same time in 2023.
The Open Doors 2024 report reveals that Indian students make up the majority of the international student population in the US. Chinese students stand second in the list.
The US government has not explained its decision to give out fewer and fewer F1 visas in the last year. Though they have mentioned that the increased visa rejections are a result of their abiding by the Immigration and Nationality Act.
