Updated April 12 at 6:27 p.m.
Six international students at UNC no longer have legal status in the U.S.
The federal government terminated their visas, according to a brief statement Tuesday from UNC Media Relations. The university is not releasing information about the students’ identities, where they’re from, or whether they have left the country.
The six UNC students are among a larger group of college students around the country who have had their visas revoked – sometimes without explanation. On Wednesday, Triangle area students gathered at the state capitol in Raleigh to support international students.
Leila Zak, a first-year student at Duke, called on institutions to help students stay safe.
“It’s super important for not only students but institutions to be taking measures to protect us, to be forming coalitions with other institutions and taking a definitive stance to show the federal administration that many of these cases are unlawful, especially those without due process,” Zak said.
Carolina Connection has communicated with a friend of one of the six students whose visa was revoked. The student is from South Sudan and, according to the friend, has left Chapel Hill.
Meanwhile, UNC’s graduate and campus workers’ union, UE 150, says it reached three of the six students. One who wishes to remain anonymous said they have not left the country and described receiving the termination notice as “the darkest and hardest moment of my life.”
The student said they were about to reach an important career milestone but now fears she will have to change her career path if she returns to her home country. The notice the student received states that their visa was terminated because they were identified in a criminal records check.
The student said they received a traffic ticket several years ago and have a pending charge related to a different traffic incident, but they have not been convicted yet. The student said they plan to get an immigration attorney.
“This is a hard moment for international students and scholars,” the student said. “But we must stand together to defend our lawful rights.”
Another student in contact with UE 150, who also wished to remain anonymous, said they have decided to stay in the country. The student said they were set to finish a research project to be published in an academic paper before the federal government terminated their visa.
“It’s definitely an extremely stressful situation,” the student said, “having fallen out of status overnight and having to decide to either fight it and possibly be barred from [the] U.S. or leave the country and give up on my education.”
Sarah Ellis contributed reporting.
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