Three students at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts and two recent graduates have had their student visas revoked, the school confirmed on Sunday.
“Over the past three days, the Harvard International Office (HIO) has learned that three students and two recent graduates have had their student visas revoked. The University learned of the revocations during a routine records review. The HIO notified the students of the revocations and referred them to legal assistance,” said Harvard in a statement.Â
No reason was given as to why the visas were revoked.
“We are not aware of the details of the revocations or the reasons for them, but we understand that comparable numbers of students and scholars in institutions across the country have experienced similar status changes in roughly the same timeframe,” Harvard said.
Harvard did not name the students, citing privacy.Â
About 300 visas revoked nationwide
The Trump administration has been deporting international students from schools across the country. Last month, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said about 300 student visas had been revoked nationwide, claiming many of the students had been participating in campus protests.
Harvard said they received no direct notification of the revocations. Last week, five international students at UMass Amherst had their student visas revoked and the school also said they got no direct notification.
Tufts student detained by ICE
Last month, Tufts University graduate student Rumeysa Ozturk was taken into custody by ICE officers outside her apartment in Somerville. The State Department revoked her student visa, claiming she was allegedly involved in activities supporting Hamas. In March 2024, Ozturk was one of several authors of a March 2024 op-ed that urged Tufts to acknowledge the Palestinian genocide. Her attorneys deny she is a supporter of Hamas and Tufts President Sunil Kumar said the op-ed did not violate any school policies.
Ozturk was taken from Massachusetts to New Hampshire and then Vermont, before she was flown to a detention center in Louisiana. A federal judge then ruled her case be transferred to Vermont.
