More than 2 dozen UW students, alumni have visas terminated by US government

The Trump administration terminated six University of Wisconsin-Madison student visas and seven alumni visa employment extensions, the university announced Monday. 

This requires the affected individuals to leave the United States immediately with no grace period. 

Universities of Wisconsin spokesperson Mark Pitsch said Tuesday that more student visas across the system have also been terminated.

“We are aware of visa terminations other than those described at UW-Madison,” Pitsch said. “Resources for students are available through our universities.”

“We know of 14 instances in which student/former student visas were terminated at universities other than UW-Madison,” Pitsch added later on Tuesday.

UW-Madison said it was not involved or aware of the terminations.

“While it is not uncommon to see terminations for many reasons, UW-Madison and peer institutions are seeing an elevated volume and frequency over the past week,” a university statement said.

While the university said it doesn’t believe the visa terminations are related to  participation in free speech events or political activity, the rationale is unclear. 

On March 27, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the U.S. State Department had revoked at least 300 student visas.

Rubio claimed the students were “lunatics” and sought entrance into the U.S. “not just to study but to participate in movements that vandalize universities, harass students, take over buildings and cause chaos.”

UW-Madison’s International Student Services has contacted the students and alumni affected by the visa terminations to advise them about potential consequences and to provide information about legal resources.

“UW–Madison will continue working to learn more about why these terminations occurred and to communicate with affected international students and the broader UW–Madison international student and scholar community,” the statement said. 

During an interview last month with WPR, Samantha McCabe, director of International Student Services, said international students were worried about their visas, federal funding and a potential travel ban. 

In fall 2024, nearly 8,000 international students were enrolled at UW-Madison, about half graduate and half undergraduate. There are more than 10,000 international students from more than 136 countries in the Universities of Wisconsin.

Those students pay about $15,000 more in tuition each semester than Wisconsin residents.

Bennett McIntosh, with the Graduate Worker Union of UW-Madison, said the group is working to learn more about the affected graduate workers.

“If these visa revocations are anything like those we’ve seen around the country, they’re arbitrary, pretextual and often in retaliation for protected speech,” McIntosh said. “We urge the university to assist students in reversing these revocations, and, [if] they do choose to leave while the process plays out, to allow them to continue their work and studies from their home countries.”

The union is hosting a rally on campus on April 17 to respond to these issues.