Since early March, non-citizen students have been targeted and arrested by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) under the Trump administration’s orders, and further arrests are expected as student visas are being revoked.

According to his  Remarks to the Press on March 28, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that at least 300 students have lost their visas. It was also implied that students who have been arrested were targeted for their support or participation in pro-Palestine protests that erupted across college campuses in March 2024. The DHS interprets this as support for Hamas, a U.S. designated terrorist group, and this designation acts as the part of the government’s legal justification for arrests.

On March 8, Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil was arrested by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) using justification from the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 as the other aspect of justification for the legality of the arrest. This served as the first major arrest, and since then, the same justification, which cites “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences” has been used in arrests of other non-citizen students. Rümeysa Öztürk, a graduate student at Tufts University, whose arrest was recorded on a surveillance video, was arrested by six plainclothes ICE officers on March 25.

As of April 7, colleges and universities across the nation have not been notified when students and faculty have had their visas revoked. It has been through their own discovery that college administrators have learned the statuses of students and faculty are threatened. 

According to ABC News,, these revokings have hit over 16 campuses with more expected to continue.

The security of undocumented students, in addition to documented non-citizens students, is also at risk with the ending of the  “Protected Areas” memorandum earlier this year, which helped protect schools and other spaces from ICE enforcement, and with the IRS agreeing to share identifying information   of non-citizens who have paid taxes. 

The increased uncertainty around the safety of documented and undocumented students alike has left many students and faculty on campuses unsure of how to respond.

“Much of the work that we’ve done in the last five months has been the same type of work that we’ve done in the last five years. It’s just the volume and the severity,” Dario Fernandez, director of the DREAM Program at Mt. SAC, which provides support for undocumented students said.

While the DREAM Program supports undocumented students, their office is well informed on the legal implications of immigration laws, and any changes to them.

In an amicus brief by 19 Democratic Attorney Generals, a federal judge has been asked to halt the cancellation of student visas. This adds to the growing list of legal challenges the Trump administration is facing when making changes to immigration policies. While the ending of the “Protected Areas” memorandum, via executive order, is facing legal challenges as well, it

marked “a big shift,” Fernandez said. “Because there’s a lot of legal challenges to many of the executive orders. There’s a lot of lawsuits that are gonna be taking on those issues and there isn’t a concrete response or answer for the community yet. 

Aside from ensuring you are dealing with an accredited legal representative and making sure they are taking into account your specific case and immigration history.”

Despite growing challenges and rapidly changing information, Fernandez is hopeful because students are still engaged on campus. “In light of everything that’s happening, in light of these conversations that are being had, the changes, when I walk outside and there’s students hanging out and talking and being college students in our space,” Fernandez said.

“There are many things that go through my head in terms of [students] showing up to campus and showing up to their classes in spite of everything that’s happening. And we need to kind of continue to nurture that regardless of what’s happening.”

To help support at-risk individuals, “Accessing the resources that are available if there are questions and doubts,” is what Fernandez said students, staff, and faculty can do to protect themselves and others. The DREAM Program has Know Your Rights  resources on their website, and Fernandez shared that “Above all, remain connected.”