By: Katie Priest, May 13, 2025
Visas and immigration statuses have been in limbo across the United States and the California State University system since the start of the second Trump administration and its renewed crackdown on immigrants.
Since April, the Trump administration began revoking international student visas across the country. These measures impacted the CSU students and peaked at 70 revoked visas mid-April. Four students at Cal Poly Pomona also faced revocations, according to President Soraya M. Coley’s office.
During this period, the numbers across the CSU climbed daily hitting a peak of 70 students with no additional data after April 15. According to the U.S. Department of State, the revocations are done as a means of “securing our borders.”
“The federal government’s decision to revoke the visas of international students had impacted four Cal Poly Pomona students and 70 students across the CSU, as of April 15,” the university said in a statement April 15. “We are in close contact with our students and providing them with resources. We are also actively monitoring the situation and will continue to provide support and guidance to any affected student to ensure they receive accurate information, personalized guidance, and the care they deserve.”
During the following week, the Trump administration seemingly walked back the revocations. While the federal government or the department of state did not release a statement on why the reverals were made the announcement did come after judges across the country began issuing orders for international students to have their access to a database reinstated, according to NPR.The following week, the CSU announced “69 out of the 70 impacted CSU students have seen their (Student and Exchange Visitor Information System) status returned to active.”
In an update about affected CPP students the university stated, “As of Sunday April 27, the visa status of the four impacted students at Cal Poly Pomona has been reinstated. The International Student and Scholar Services Office staff have been working closely with each of them. Three of them have resumed their classes. The fourth is currently on OPT (Optional Practical Training) in their home country and does not have plans to return to the U.S. since they have finished their degree.”
According to The New York Times, Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, said the department restored SEVIS access for “people who had not had their visa revoked.”
The Department of Homeland Security appeared to celebrate the revocations in a first-100-days press release April 29 among other crackdowns on immigration.
“President (Donald) Trump is returning common sense to our legal immigration system and national security by revoking visas of terrorist sympathizers,” the press release stated. “Those who glorify and support terrorists who kill Americans are not welcome in the U.S.”
For CPP, affected students have been offered support by student affairs.
“It is really important in recognizing what is happening locally, nationally, globally, that we’re in polarizing times,” said Jonathan Grady, the senior associate vice president for equity and belonging. “There’s a lot of hurt. There’s a lot of fear. So, it is very important in all that we do in supporting our students and members of the community to approach things with intention, to approach things with humility and to approach things with care.”
According to Weston Prisbrey, the deputy dean of students, the services provided are offered regardless of immigration status, citizenship status and identity, and the services are available to all students.
In the 100 days address secretary of homeland security Kristi Noem laid out the ways the department is “keeping America safe,” including watching social media accounts, pushing for self-deportations and closing in on higher education.
Feature image courtesy of Darren Loo