Anonymity has been granted in this article to two international students due to recent federal actions. The identities of each person has been verified.

Editor’s note: The University said in a statement on April 6 that “visa revocations have no known connection with either the campus’ federally mandated participation in active OCR Title VI complaint processes or with students’ engagement in activism.” The Collegian believes another outlet to be the “online publication” mentioned by that statement, and the information given by the university lines up with what the Collegian currently knows and reported.

On April 4, University of Massachusetts Amherst Chancellor Javier Reyes sent an email informing the UMass community that “five international students have had their visas revoked and student statuses terminated by the federal government.”

The reasons behind the revocations were not disclosed in the email.

“In the past, students’ legal statuses in the United States were not immediately canceled due to a revoked visa,” the email states. “Under the new administration, in some cases, student statuses are being revoked within hours of the visa’s revocation.”

The email provided information from Inside Higher Ed, stating students who have their visas revoked are typically permitted to “stay in the country as long as they remain enrolled in courses,” but the changes in legal status are “paving the way for arrest and deportation.”

Reyes states the University was not informed of the revocations as they happened and only discovered them after checking the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) database.

“We are connecting these students to on- and off-campus resources, including personal outreach from leadership within the Office of the Provost, Student Affairs and Campus Life, and the Office of Global Affairs,” the email states. “We also continue to work with the UMass Office of General Counsel and the Attorney General of Massachusetts to ensure that we do everything within our power to protect our community.”

Students are usually informed by the Department of State via email if their visas are revoked but it was not disclosed whether or not these students were aware of their change in status before the administration uncovered changes in the SEVIS database.

“We encourage all students on visas to monitor the email address used to apply for their F-1 or other non-immigrant visa for notifications from the Department of State,” the email states.

Currently, The Daily Collegian has identified one of the five students; a sophomore from South Korea was notified he has 10 days to leave after April 4. Details regarding the reason of his revocation are currently unknown.

An international student from India, currently holding a student visa, heard the news from a friend after Reyes’ email was released. The severity and lack of detail, he said, quickly made way for fear.

“I’m really scared. The email doesn’t provide any clarification about their reasons why their visas were revoked, which was really fishy to me,” he said. “There’s been news coming in from around the world, and that in itself was pretty scary, but then seeing it happening at UMass, it definitely hit harder because it was finally that much closer to home.”

By the end of the semester, the student from India will not have been able to go back home for almost a year. Additionally, his visa status has made it harder to get opportunities for professional and career development, leaving him with few options.

“I’m not going to be back home for almost a year now, and at the same time, a lot of the positions that I applied for to work over the summer at public research firms … half of the firms were telling me they wouldn’t hire me because I was on a visa,” he said. “I now have virtually nothing to do here over the summer, and I also can’t go back home because I don’t know if I’d be able to get back into the country or not.”

Another international student from North America learned of the news the following day, and said it reinforced his lack of personal security under the Trump administration and has led to a decrease in quality of life at UMass.

“It is one of those things that reinforces the feeling of not being secure now under the administration,” he said. “It’s one of those worst-case scenarios where it really demotivates you, and it’s really led to a worse life here as an international student. It shows a target on your back right now.”

“It’s one of those things where they can take away anyone, it’s possible, but it’s still something that’s so unfair, and it’s to anybody,” the student from North America said. “It just feels so f**king unfair.”

The administration encouraged students to check for updates on the UMass Federal Action webpage and provided information on the Angel Fund, established to financially provide for students impacted by new federal immigration policies.

The email also said that, “Students on UMass-sponsored visas who receive any communications (phone calls or emails) purporting to be from the federal government should also contact the Office of Global Affairs, who will advise them of options and resources. Students on personal statuses such as parole, TPS, asylum, etc. should contact the Student Legal Services Office or their personal attorney.”

“As I have stated before, we are working closely with the UMass system, the governor, the attorney general, and legislators at both the state and federal level to ensure that we remain true to our mission and that our legacy as a global campus lives on,” Reyes said in the statement.

This is a developing story. The Daily Collegian will provide updates as this story continues.

Bella Astrofsky can be reached at [email protected]. Isabella Ishanyan can be reached at [email protected].