VISA LIMBO

The revocation of hundreds of student visas in the United States has left many Jamaican students currently studying or planning to study there feeling anxious and uncertain, as universities scramble to support those ordered to leave the country voluntarily.

Although up-to-date figures for 2024 are unavailable, nearly 1,400 Jamaican students were issued F-1 student visas in 2023. Over the past decade – from 2014 to 2023 – 10,294 Jamaicans were granted student visas, according to US Department of State records.

Since US President Donald Trump’s return to the White House in January, more than 1,000 international students have reportedly had their visas revoked, with fears that the number could double. This wave of revocations has sparked panic among international student communities, including Jamaicans.

It remains unclear how many Jamaicans have been directly affected by the latest development.

“It’s a time of anxiety, stress, disappointment and even feelings of neglect,” a Jamaican PhD candidate studying in Massachusetts told The Sunday Gleaner.

Like others interviewed by The Sunday Gleaner for this story, he spoke on the condition that his identity and the name of his university would not be disclosed, citing the fear of having his visa revoked.

He has three years left to complete his five-year programme.

He explained that international students across the US are “anxious and panicking”, though some universities – like his – have taken proactive steps to arm them with information that may help if their visas are revoked and they are detained. They have also received information on how to stay safe via what he called “listening sessions” with university administrators.

He believes his university is keen on helping students primarily because it is in a blue (Democratic) state and politically opposes the Trump administration.

“The blue states are not with the current administration, but I’m thinking and sympathising with other international students who may be in red states, where their universities are not as caring as mine,” he said.

The American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) has described the latest “targeting” of international students as “aggressive”, noting that the Department of State and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are including those without a history of protest, for visa revocation, termination of their status, and removal.

It said ICE has terminated 4,736 Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) records since January 20, 2025, the majority on F-1 status.

SEVIS is a web-based system for maintaining information on non-immigrant students and exchange visitors in the US. It is also a key tool for the Department of Homeland Security to collect information on international students for the duration of their study in the country.

The National Association of Foreign Student Advisers (NAFSA) has launched a petition to push Congress to rein in the Trump administration. It estimates that some 1,400 international students are facing deportation, which it says undermines US economic growth, weakens global competitiveness, and deprives the country of the world’s top talent.

“These executive actions – including abrupt restrictions on visa issuance, sudden revocation of hundreds of student visas, and cancellation of immigration status – do not make the United States any safer. Instead, they are an affront to an already thorough vetting and monitoring process and create a climate of uncertainty and fear that makes it harder for international students to thrive in the United States,” the NAFSA petition said.

For many Jamaican students, the situation presents difficult choices. The PhD student in Massachusetts is debating whether to return home for the summer – a tradition for many, given that graduate students are typically unpaid during that period as their stipend lasts up to the end of the semester.

“They tell you being here is a privilege, so they don’t have to let you back in,” he said.

According to the PhD student, many Jamaicans are now in limbo without the resources to remain in the US for the summer but dogged by the fear that they could be barred from re-entering if they go home.

For him, the latter is a risk he is willing to take.

Although his university has launched a fund – sponsored by staff, faculty, and alumni – to support international students with food and rent during the summer, he feels it is not enough for his mental health.

“You have to remember the summer is four months, but then, we’re hearing the stories every day of not just international students but people with H1B visas and other visas who are not let back in.

“As for me, I am leaving because I have weighed and balanced the scale. If I stay, I’m going to fall into depression. So, I am trusting God and I am leaving this country and I am going to Jamaica. I’m going to throw some olive oil on myself, pray and come back through,” he said, adding that his tuition, exclusive of miscellaneous fees, is just over US$10,000 per year.

He said the fear of visa revocation has disrupted the lives of international students considerably, mentioning that it is not only students who have participated in pro-Palestinian and other protests who are having their visas revoked.

Minor infractions such as traffic violations are reportedly also being flagged. To avoid potential issues, many international students have stopped driving and instead rely on public transport to reduce the risk of being pulled over by the police or breaching the road code.

AILA suspects artificial intelligence is being used under the ‘Catch and Revoke’ programme to identify students based on arrest records and even social media activity, particularly those supporting pro-Palestinian views.

AILA said these administrative actions are unprecedented and have wide-ranging impacts and significant due process concerns. Further, the immigration lawyers believe that they raise a number of open legal questions that will likely require litigation to resolve.

The association said the top states impacted are Texas, California, New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Arizona, Illinois, Massachusetts, Florida, and Virginia.

At the PhD candidate’s university, the number of students with revoked visas recently rose from 10 to 14. The school is not notified prior to revocation, and reportedly checks its internal systems three times daily to monitor for revocations and connects affected students with legal counsel.

“They tell you in emails to save the 24-hour lines so that if the police stop you, you call immediately,” he said.

International students at this university have also been advised to sign G-28 forms – legal documents that pre-authorise an attorney to act on a student’s behalf if detained. The university has urged students to leave the ‘lawyer’ field blank and give the form to a trusted faculty member.

“If you are detained, you call the faculty and they will use that form to get you a lawyer,” he said.

The university has also indicated that it will allow deported students who can continue their studies online to do so.

‘We’re smack in the middle of it’

However, not all institutions are as responsive.

A Jamaican student-athlete at a public university in the US Northeast described a more troubling scenario.

As she puts it, international students there are “smack in the middle of it”, noting significant concern.

She called the visa revocations “worrisome”, admitting that she does not have cable television but keeps up with the news via social media.

“They’ve said if we don’t provide any value to the United States, they’ll send us back home, and that’s scaring me because I’m not even in my senior year. I’m a junior now and I’m not sure if I’d like to get my master’s or go to medical school because I would like to become a sports doctor. I’m trying not to worry about it because if I do, I might go crazy,” she said.

She trains in the mornings, attends classes, and works afterwards.

Her university has not provided any information or guidance on how to navigate the current climate in the country, a position she told The Sunday Gleaner she understands.

Because of its public status, the university is dependent on funding from the US government.

“Certain stuff they have to abide by because even the money they use to assist student athletes or even to help with regular students, it’s from the government. So even the DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) policies were discontinued,” she said.

She pointed to Harvard University, which, because of its private status, has taken on the Trump administration over a letter that included a series of demands about hiring, admissions and curriculum, according to The New York Times.

The demands were reportedly so onerous that school officials decided they had no choice but to take on the White House in court, the newspaper said.

“They have that power, but I understand why my university can’t. They’re probably still trying to figure out how to help students because they do appreciate international students,” she said.

A Jamaican professor working at another university in the US Northeast, said many universities strongly rely on the tuition of international students, whose fees are markedly higher, compared to US citizens’. They sometimes account for 60 to 70 per cent of universities’ funding.

He said some universities have encouraged students not to travel because visas are being revoked without notice. He said students only become aware of the issues after trying to re-enter the country.

“There is a heightened state of fear and uncertainty and the ever-present threat of deportation,” the professor said, noting that the administration has widened the net.

“In my classrooms, we have had to talk about what if Immigration and Custom Enforcement were to come on campus? We have had to be circulating in faculty groups who to direct them to, and, if they show up at our immediate classrooms, to have no one else speak but us,” he said.

Attendance has declined in some classes, and while the professor said there is no confirmed link, the atmosphere is tense.

“It’s like hope and pray right now ... . The compassionate professor can’t be okay with students living in this heightened sense of insecurity,” he said.

He noted that the push is making the US less attractive for international students, with many now looking to Asia, Europe and Canada.

In 2024, China issued study permits to an estimated 300 Jamaicans, its embassy in Kingston told The Sunday Gleaner.

Between 2015 and 2024, some 18,230 study permits were issued to Jamaicans, 1,045 of which were issued in 2024, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, said in an email to The Sunday Gleaner.

The professor said even before now, shifting global academic trends were noticeable as increasingly, students have been opting to bypass the US. Canada’s appeal , he reasoned as an example, lies in its immigration policies, which allow international students to apply for permanent residence without needing a sponsor.

HOPE REMAINS

Yet, despite the risks, some students remain hopeful. A Jamaican preparing to begin her PhD in California this year says she’s moving forward with faith.

“I’m very confident in the path God has for me. So I believe that if God is sending me to pursue higher education in the US, then I believe that He will protect me. The application process, in itself, was rigorous, and I think if I went through all of that to go to a country and then be sent back, I just don’t believe that’s a part of His plan for me,” she said.

She believes that although there is great uncertainty among international students, staying out of trouble is key.

“I am standing strong in believing that if I go there and I don’t participate in any protest, I certainly don’t plan to have any criminal record, then I just think that I will be safe, but it’s quite alarming and very concerning what is going on,” the PhD candidate said.

kimone.francis@gleanerjm.com