By Six Long Beach State international students have had their visas revoked within a week, according to a statement made by CSULB President Jane Close Conoley during the Academic Senate meeting on April 10.
This confirmation comes after the recent presence of United States Secret Service agents on campus.
According to Conoley, five of the six students whose visas were revoked are still in the United States. Another student was deported to Japan from a layover in Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu while flying back into the country after spring break.
“It’s very concerning because this is not like anything that’s happened before,” Conoley said. “It’s happened before that an international student gets in trouble, and we would be contacted and their visa could be revoked, but we always had a chance to challenge it.”
According to Homeland Security, a student visa can be revoked if the student violates the terms of the visa, including committing a crime or being suspended from school. Reasons for termination appear on the student’s documents.
For the six Long Beach State students, their visa termination is listed as “other.”
According to Conoley, 68 international students have had visas terminated across the CSU system. Conoley said the university is no longer notified when a visa is revoked.
Students are encouraged to check their visa status through the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System server.
When asked if there was a connection between the students whose visas had been terminated, Conoley said there did not seem to be one.
“What we’re seeing is students being picked up because they’re labeled pro-Hamas or have written op-eds against Israel. Many come from Muslim countries. But this isn’t the case for our students. They seem to be coming from all over the place,” Conoley said.
Recently, Tufts University doctoral student Rumeysa Ozturk was arrested by federal agents who claimed she participated in unlawful activities.
In 2024, she wrote an op-ed published in the Tufts Daily calling for divestments from companies with ties to Israel.
Conoley said there is no evidence any of the students were involved in pro-Palestinian demonstrations and that the university does not keep information on who attends or participates in these demonstrations.
Without specific reasons for the student’s visa terminations, the university’s efforts to contest the decision in court have stalled.
The university has turned to on-the-ground support, contacting students to help them continue schooling and receive legal counseling.
“We’re not dis-enrolling them. We want them to finish the year,” Conoley said. “This kind of war against higher ed seems to be high on the administration agenda, and I don’t see it going away.”
The recent visa terminations come just weeks after federal agents from the U.S. Secret Service visited the university in late March.
Federal agents demanded information on a student they claimed made online threats against President Donald Trump.
Conoley said agents visited the University Police Department and Student Affairs to request the student’s class schedule.
When denied, the agents left only to return the next day with the same request. Again, the university denied their request.
“We do not share educational records with outsiders, and they know that,” Conoley said. “Know that we will not share personal information about you. You can’t overly reassure people because this is a whole new game.”
Ngan Nguyen, an Academic Senate student representative, was present for Conoley’s announcements.
“Government agencies have already pressured Long Beach under the guise that certain students are posing threats,” Nguyen said. “For example, they’ve not only requested access to come into our classroom and interrogate our students, but Conoley said that the school has and will continue to deny them this access.”
Federal agents have also been present at other universities, including California State University, San Jose, where the U.S. Secret Service made a similar request, according to Conoley.
Recently, immigration agents arrived at two Los Angeles elementary schools where they were denied entrance.
“My opinion is they’re coming after students to create fear and apprehension. They want universities to bow to them,” Conoley said.
She encourages faculty members to report any contact with federal agents on campus, asking for student information to UPD.
She also emphasized the university would continue to deny federal agents student information without a judicial warrant.
“Long Beach has and will probably continue to face pressure and threats from this administration, but the priority remains ensuring students have access to higher education, international status or not,” Nguyen said.
Editor’s note: This story was updated at 11:27 p.m. on Friday, April 11 to add more context to the location where the international student was deported from.
