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Number of UW students’ visas revoked increases to 23

Suzzallo Library at the University of Washington (KIRO 7 News)

SEATTLE — The number of University of Washington students who have had their visas recently revoked has risen to at least 23, the university confirmed to KIRO 7.

On April 7, the university put out a statement saying that five current and four recent graduate students had their visas revoked by the federal government without any prior warning.

As of April 18, 13 current students had their visas revoked, and 10 recent grads participating in post-grad training had their visas revoked.

The Trump administration has revoked hundreds of international students’ visas across the country, sending a wave of fear across college campuses. More than 8,000 international students currently attend the University of Washington.

The university said that neither it nor the students impacted were given any kind of warning before the visas were “unilaterally cancelled.”

Despite rumors and other instances across the country, UW officials do not seem to believe that there is any indication that these revocations are due to any kind of activism or other protected free speech.

Last spring, students set up an encampment on the Quad in protest over the school’s financial ties to Israel.

They are also not aware of immigration officials coming onto the campus related to this situation.

“We are deeply concerned about the well-being of these students and graduates and are working to support them. International students and scholars are essential and valued members of our University and they contribute immensely to our community, state and nation. The UW will continue to support them and provide the resources they need to be to able learn, teach and succeed here,” the university said in a statement in early April.

“Our priority remains supporting our international students and scholars and we will continue to proactively communicate directly with them about these issues. Because the federal government is not notifying universities of status changes, we have been checking SEVIS records daily so that we can proactively contact students whose records have been changed,” the statement continued.

UW currently has 3,924 undergraduate international students enrolled and 4,041 graduate international students enrolled across its campuses.

The university said that if a student is impacted or has their visa revoked to contact international student services office immediately for information and resources.

These resources include access to legal services available to students as part of their student fees, as well as mental health and academic support.

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