MANCHESTER, NH – School officials at Southern NH University confirmed Friday that a number of their international students have had their student visas terminated by the U.S. government.
According to Siobhan Lopez, Director of Media Relations, school officials were not notified of the change in status for the affected students.
“Over the past week, Southern New Hampshire University learned that some of our campus-based international students and graduates had their visas revoked and student status terminated by the federal government,” Lopez said. “We are working with the impacted students to connect them with resources.”
Lopez said that SNHU only learned about the revocation of visas and termination of status through their monitoring of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) database.”
On Wednesday SNHU President Lisa Ryerson acknowledged the actions against SNHU students in her weekly newsletter.
Wrote Ryerson, “As you’ve likely seen on the news, in recent weeks, many international students in higher education across the country have had their visas suddenly revoked by the federal government — often without warning or clear explanation. Sadly, our own community has also been impacted, with some campus-based students and graduates having their visas canceled over the past few days.”
Ryerson called the action by the U.S. government “deeply concerning,” adding that while SNHU would “comply with lawfully issued warrants, subpoenas, and record requests in accordance with FERPA and other applicable laws” they would also continue to support and protect “the legal rights of the university and our community members.”
Lopez said for privacy reasons SNHU would not disclose how many international students were affected this week, but noted that there are currently more than 750 international students and graduates who are active in the SEVIS database.