Of the 300 student visas that the Trump administration has revoked thus far, 13 of those have been international students at the University of Connecticut, according to UConn Spokesperson Stephanie Reitz.
In a University Communications email sent to all students on April 10, UConn acknowledged the difficulties and uncertainties that these revocations might provoke.
“While the number of impacted students here is small, consequences for those impacted are significant,” said the email.
All 13 students impacted at UConn are Storrs students.
Six are undergraduate students, six are graduate students and one is in a post-graduate professional program, according to CT Mirror.
UConn has around 3,450 international students.
The school offers many resources through its International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS), including “monitoring the SEVIS records of our international students and visiting scholars on F and J visas daily, auditing records for any changes initiated by external government officials,” according to the email sent to students.
However, UConn cannot devote funding to legal representation, according to a UConn Today statement from earlier in April.
“This would be using public resources to provide a private benefit not available to the general public,” the statement said.
Students who have had their visas revoked must pursue legal action themselves, if applicable.
According to a graduate student who had had his visa revoked, “They [UConn] told me to find an immigration lawyer. They told me to stay at home to wait for their updates,” according to The Daily Campus.
That same student said that he was told the visa revocation was an effect of his criminal record, which he claims that he does not have, according to the Daily Campus.
Another student who had his visa revoked reported that the reasoning behind his revocation was due to a criminal record.
According to CT Mirror, this student had been arrested in 2024 for a family violence charge. Court records show that the case had been dismissed within a few months, with the student being referred to counseling.
Chris Llinas, a Connecticut criminal defense and immigration attorney, states that a person’s visa can only legally be terminated if the person has committed a certain type of crime, according to CT Mirror.
Llinas said, “I’ve been in touch with many of the affected Connecticut students and none of them have that (conviction),” according to CT Mirror.
UConn is working to assist international students. Help and resources are available to students in need through the UConn ISSS website and office.
