The visas of nearly 20 Florida International University students have been revoked. NBC6’s Jamie Guirola reports
The visas of nearly 20 Florida International University students have been revoked, part of the Trump Administration's recent effort to terminate the visas of international students across the country.
FIU officials confirmed Friday that the F1 visas of 18 students, as first reported by the Miami New Times, were terminated between March 25 and April 10. They did not provide specific information.
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WATCH HERE"It's part of a larger pattern where hundreds of students are having their student visas revoked—some because of, you know, petty things like a traffic infraction, but most of the time because of an assault on their First Amendment rights," said Thomas Kennedy of the Florida Immigrant Coalition.
F-1 visas allow non-citizens to enter the United States as full-time students at accredited educational institutions.
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To qualify, people must meet certain criteria, including approval from ICE. They also must have proficiency in English or enroll in courses that lead to it.
Students must have sufficient funds to support themselves during the entire course of study.
"It's just a disgrace that these students are having their university studies, their university careers, cut short because of this," Kennedy said.
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Eleven of the 18 visas revoked are current students, and seven are recent graduates on optional practical training, or o-p-t.
OPT is a period when students with F-1 status are permitted by the government to receive practical training to complement their field of study.
"It's extremely—like I said, un-American. We're supposed to be better than this," Kennedy said.
Additionally, FIU, along with other Florida universities, signed a cooperation agreement with ICE to use campus police for immigration enforcement.
