Visas Revoked For More PA University Students

PHILADELPHIA — More Temple University students have had their visas revoked, according to officials.

Temple University President Jon Fry in a letter to the community Monday said the visa revocations happened over the last week and were done by the United States Secretary of State.

These new revocations affect current and former students, he said.

"Temple’s Office of Global Engagement has been in regular contact with these individuals, who are presently consulting with their attorneys to determine their next steps," Fry said.

Their identities were not provided.

"As a reminder, there have been no reports of federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers being on campus," Fry said in Monday's letter. "And, as we have previously shared, we have an established protocol for working with ICE and CBP agents."

This announcement comes about two weeks after Temple officials said an international student's visa was revoked.

Details on why that student's visa was revoked were not available, and officials said the discovery was made during a recent routine review of student visa records.

Days later, three visas of students at the University of Pennsylvania were revoked. Penn officials said it does not appear the terminations are connected to protests on the school's campus last year.

"ICE agents have NOT been present on campus in connection with these cases," a letter to the UPenn community said.

However, the letter said officials are aware of reports of encounters with ICE agents at Penn and additional visa revocations.

Two current Carnegie Mellon University students and five recent graduates had their international visas revoked recently, as well.

These incidents follow two high-profile student visa revocations and detainments of students at Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil and Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk, who were outspoken about Israel's aggressive actions in Gaza after the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.

Khalil and Ozturk are undergoing deportation hearings.