AI Doctoral Student's Visa Revoked Amid Broader Crackdown on International Students in the US

An AI doctoral candidate in California says they had their student visa revoked | TechCrunch

An AI doctoral student in California had their SEVIS record -- the digital proof of their valid student visa -- terminated, putting their immigration status at risk. Speaking to TechCrunch, the student, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisal, said they were notified via their college's international student center that they'd been identified in a criminal records check. The student said that they'd been studying in the U.S. for nearly a decade starting as an undergraduate, and that they have no criminal record. "The most likely cause may be an interaction with the police many years ago, even before I entered graduate school," the student said. "I was conducting research in the AI field and had planned to continue my research after graduation." Over the past few months, more than a thousand international students in the U.S. have had their visa statuses challenged by the State Department and Immigration and Customs Enforcement as part of an aggressive crackdown orchestrated by the Trump administration. In many cases, colleges haven't been directly notified by the relevant federal agencies, leaving students with little notice -- or recourse. Yisong Yue, a machine learning professor at Caltech, told TechCrunch the U.S. government's hardline stance on student visas is "harming the talent pipeline." "The cumulative effect is making the U.S. a significantly less appealing destination for many talented researchers," Yue said. "Because research is highly specialized, when a doctoral student is pulled from a project, it can set back the project by months or years. Beyond the specific students and projects affected, many students on visas are worried." Few institutions have been spared by the crackdown. According to reports, students attending Ivy League universities, large public colleges, and small liberal arts schools have had their visas suspended. While the government has accused some of these students of supporting Palestinian militant groups or engaging in "antisemtic" activities, others have been targeted for minor legal infractions, like speeding tickets or other traffic violations. Some of the revocations appear to be administrative mistakes. Reportedly, one student, Suguru Onda, a computer science doctoral candidate at Brigham Young University, had their revoked student visa reinstated without explanation shortly after their immigration attorney filed suit. The attorney, Adam Crayk, said the government is using AI to screen visa holders without human verification, leading to errors. Last week, a judge in Georgia issued a temporary restraining order in the case of around 100 international students whose visas were revoked, and directed the government to reinstate the students' legal status. The ruling only applies to a fraction of students at risk of deportation, however, and could be challenged down the line. Yue noted that international students contributed to many recent technical breakthroughs in AI. Ashish Vaswani, who moved to the U.S. to study computer science in the early 2000s, is one of the co-creators of the transformer, the seminal AI model architecture that underpins chatbots like ChatGPT. One of the co-founders of OpenAI, Wojciech Zaremba, earned his doctorate in AI from NYU on a student visa. A recent analysis by the nonprofit educational association NAFSA found that international students at U.S. colleges and universities contributed $43.8 billion to the domestic economy during the 2023-2024 academic year and supported more than 378,000 jobs. Yue says that he's had "multiple conversations" with senior AI researchers who are worried about staying in the United States. "This includes professors at top universities and researchers at companies such as OpenAI, Google, and so on," he added. "The cumulative effect of the government's actions is making the U.S. a significantly less appealing destination for many talented researchers."

After a decade in US, AI doctoral student in California possibly looking at deportation under Trump student crackdown - SiliconANGLE

After a decade in US, AI doctoral student in California possibly looking at deportation under Trump student crackdown An AI doctoral student in California told TechCrunch in a report published today that his immigration status in the U.S. is currently under threat after spending a decade in the country. The student told TechCrunch that his/her status in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, or SEVIS, has just been terminated. The student, who wanted anonymity, fearing reprisals for discussing the matter, was notified by the college's international student center. The termination was related to a criminal records check, despite the student saying their record was clean. "The most likely cause may be an interaction with the police many years ago, even before I entered graduate school," the student told TechCrunch. "I was conducting research in the AI field and had planned to continue my research after graduation." In what's become a season of fear and paranoia for international students in the U.S., there have been reports of men in suits appearing at various universities and dragging students to unmarked cars from where they've been taken to detention centers. It's believed that about 1,000 international students or recent graduates have had their visas revoked throughout the country over the last few weeks, with the Trump administration stating that visas are a "privilege" and that privilege can be taken away at any time. Students have reported not knowing the reason when their university has informed them that their visa status has suddenly changed. For some, the reason was likely that they've taken part in protests, such as pro-Palestinian protests, and then comes a revocation out of nowhere. "I could be next," a student at Georgetown University told the BBC, fearing the articles he'd written about Israel and the war in Gaza could land him in deep water. It seems in some cases, airing views over war or human rights issues isn't the only problem. One student reported receiving an email from her university that informed her: "ISS [International Student Services] is writing to inform you that your SEVIS record was terminated ..." She was befuddled, thinking it might be a scam email, only after some research to find out others had received such an email and it seems over nothing more than parking tickets. She'd had two in the past. Once a student's SEVIS status is terminated, they have a grace period, usually 15 days, to either leave the U.S. or fight to restore their status. If they can't override the order, they risk being deported. It seems the sudden crackdown is due to the use of AI, which is screening masses of data and pulling up names, sometimes names that clearly should not be on a hit list. Some students have already fought back, with a judge in Georgia last week ordering a temporary restraining order when a mass of students had their visa status terminated.

Foreign students face deportation under Trump immigration crackdown

Foreign students face deportation under Trump immigration crackdown An AI doctoral student in California told TechCrunch in a report published today that his immigration status in the U.S. is currently under threat after spending a decade in the country -- just one of about 1,000 international students whose visas have been revoked recently. The actions have been seen by some as having a chilling effect on foreign tech talent needed in the U.S. to keep it at the forefront of the industry, especially in artificial intelligence. The student told TechCrunch that his/her status in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, or SEVIS, has just been terminated. The student, who wanted anonymity, fearing reprisals for discussing the matter, was notified by the college's international student center. The termination was related to a criminal records check, despite the student saying their record was clean. "The most likely cause may be an interaction with the police many years ago, even before I entered graduate school," the student told TechCrunch. "I was conducting research in the AI field and had planned to continue my research after graduation." In what's become a season of fear and paranoia for international students in the U.S., there have been reports of men in suits appearing at various universities and dragging students to unmarked cars from where they've been taken to detention centers. It's believed that about 1,000 international students or recent graduates have had their visas revoked throughout the country over the last few weeks, with the Trump administration stating that visas are a "privilege" and that privilege can be taken away at any time. Students have reported not knowing the reason when their university has informed them that their visa status has suddenly changed. For some, the reason was likely that they've taken part in protests, such as pro-Palestinian protests, and then comes a revocation out of nowhere. "I could be next," a student at Georgetown University told the BBC, fearing the articles he'd written about Israel and the war in Gaza could land him in deep water. In some cases, airing views about war or human rights issues isn't the only problem. One student reported receiving an email from her university that informed her: "ISS [International Student Services] is writing to inform you that your SEVIS record was terminated ..." She was befuddled, thinking it might be a scam email, only after some research to find out others had received such an email and it seems over nothing more than parking tickets. She had had two in the past. Once students' SEVIS status is terminated, they have a grace period, usually 15 days, either to leave the U.S. or to fight for restoring their status. If they can't override the order, they risk being deported. The sudden crackdown may depend on the use of AI, which is screening masses of data and pulling up names, sometimes names that clearly should not be on a hit list. Some students have already fought back. A judge in Georgia last week ordered a temporary restraining order when a mass of students had their visa status terminated.