In a Monday update about federal immigration enforcement, the University of Wisconsin said the records of six current students and seven alumni on employment extensions have been terminated by the U.S. government. The report comes just five days after UW said nobody with a campus affiliation had been impacted by immigration enforcement actions.
The announcement follows similar announcements of terminations of student records at colleges and universities across the country. The individuals’ records were terminated by the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, a branch of the National Security Investigations Division that manages information on “nonimmigrants whose primary reason for coming to the U.S. is to be students,” according to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement website.
The termination of a SEVIS record effectively ends an international student’s legal status with no grace period, according to policies outlined on the Department of Homeland Security website.
The statement says the university played no role in these terminations, and that the precise rationale is “unclear,” but that the university “does not believe” the terminations are “specific to participation in free speech events or political activity.”
UW is not aware of federal law enforcement activity on campus, the statement adds. Such activity is limited in private spaces on campus, such as closed classrooms, without a warrant.
International Student Services has contacted the impacted individuals to provide further information and legal resources.
For additional information, students and staff are encouraged to consult campus resources, UW’s Federal Relations website and the ISS page with resources on immigration issues.