Student Visas and Speech-Based Removals

Updated2026-11-09 Covers2025-01-20 to 2026-11-07

Summary

Starting in March 2025, the administration arrested, detained and tried to deport some students and scholars who are not U.S. citizens. They had taken part in pro-Palestinian advocacy.¹ It relied mainly on findings by the Secretary of State that a person’s presence in the country would harm U.S. foreign policy. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) memos made public in January 2026 said DHS “has not identified any alternative grounds for removability” beyond that finding.² Those arrested included Mahmoud Khalil, a lawful permanent resident (green-card holder). They also included Tufts doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk and Georgetown scholar Badar Khan Suri. Leqaa Kordia was held a year before she was released on bond. Others left the country before any court ruled.³,⁶⁶,⁶⁴,⁸²,⁹³,⁹⁶,⁹⁷ More than 8,000 student visas were revoked in 2025, and people applying for student visas must now make their social-media accounts public.⁴,⁵ In AAUP v. Rubio⁵⁴, Judge William Young held that the policy was an unconstitutional “ideological deportation” policy. He set it aside under the Administrative Procedure Act, the law that sets the rules federal agencies must follow. The First Circuit, a federal appeals court, has paused part of his remedy.⁷,⁸,⁹ As of November 2026, Khalil’s final removal order awaits action on his petition to the Supreme Court. Mahdawi, ordered removed in June 2026, has asked the First Circuit to review that order.¹⁰,⁷⁵,⁸⁶,⁸⁵

Background

The main legal tool was the foreign-policy deportation ground in the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA),⁵¹ the main federal immigration law. Under this part of the law (8 U.S.C. §1227(a)(4)(C)),⁴⁵ a noncitizen can be deported for foreign-policy reasons. The Secretary of State must have reasonable ground to believe the person’s presence would have “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences.” Sometimes the reason is the person’s lawful beliefs, statements or associations. Then the law requires the Secretary personally to decide that a compelling foreign-policy interest is at stake. That rule comes from a related section that the deportation ground borrows (8 U.S.C. §1182(a)(3)(C)(iii)).⁴⁶,¹² The administration also used the Secretary’s power to revoke visas at his own discretion (8 U.S.C. §1201(i))⁴⁷.¹³ Under Kleindienst v. Mandel (1972),⁴⁸ a noncitizen who lives abroad has no constitutional right to enter the country. U.S. citizens sometimes object under the First Amendment,⁵⁰ which protects free speech, when someone is kept out. Then courts ask only whether the government gave a “facially legitimate and bona fide” reason, meaning one that looks valid and is given in good faith.⁵ The Supreme Court held in Bridges v. Wixon (1945)⁴⁹ that noncitizens living in the United States have First Amendment protection. The cases here involve people already in the US, including lawful permanent residents (LPRs, or green-card holders).

On Jan 20, 2025, Trump signed Executive Order (EO) 14161, a written order from the President to federal agencies. It ordered stricter screening of visa applicants.¹⁴ EO 14188 on antisemitism followed on Jan 29.¹⁵ On Feb 3, the Justice Department announced a Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism. It joined several agencies, including the Education Department and Health and Human Services. The General Services Administration joined its later actions.¹⁶ The task force became the main group directing actions to freeze or cut university funding.¹⁶

What happened

Arrests and detentions of students and scholars

On Mar 8, 2025, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested Mahmoud Khalil, an LPR, at his Columbia apartment building. They had no warrant.¹ He was held 104 days, mostly in Louisiana. He was in detention when his first child was born.¹,¹⁷ The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) said records made public later show officials went after him only for protected speech.³

Others were targeted the same month. Ranjani Srinivasan, an Indian doctoral candidate in urban planning at Columbia, was told on Mar 5 that her student visa had been revoked. ICE came to her apartment, and Columbia removed her from enrollment. She then left for Canada. Noem said she had chosen to “self deport.” Noem wrote, “When you advocate for violence and terrorism that privilege should be revoked,” and Srinivasan’s lawyers denied the allegations.⁶²,⁹¹,⁹²,⁹³ Around Mar 9, ICE searched the home of the parents of Yunseo Chung, a 21-year-old Columbia student and LPR from South Korea. DHS pointed to “concerning conduct,” including her arrest at a Barnard protest. A judge barred her arrest on Mar 25.⁶³,⁹⁴ Leqaa Kordia, a Palestinian, had been arrested at an April 2024 Columbia protest. DHS announced on Mar 14 that she was detained in Newark. DHS said she had overstayed a student visa that was terminated in 2022. The government appealed two rulings granting her bond, which is money paid so a person can leave detention while the case goes on. She was held a year in Alvarado, Texas. Then an immigration judge called the government’s arguments “disingenuous,” and she was released on a $100,000 bond (Mar 16, 2026).⁶⁴,⁸² Earlier, on Nov 3, 2025, an immigration judge had ordered her removed but barred sending her to Israel. The judge found she would more likely than not be persecuted there. The judge denied her asylum, finding she was attempting “manipulation of the asylum process.” Her lawyers said she would appeal.¹⁰¹ Cornell doctoral student Momodou Taal, a British-Gambian national, sued the day after his visa was revoked (Mar 14). He lost his first request to block his deportation. On Mar 31, he announced that he would leave the country. His lawyers then dropped the case. That ended his First Amendment challenge without a ruling on the merits, meaning without a decision on who was right.⁶⁵,⁹⁵,⁹⁶ ICE arrested Georgetown scholar Badar Khan Suri, who held a J-1 exchange-visitor visa, on Mar 17. DHS said he was “actively spreading Hamas propaganda,” and his lawyers said he was targeted because of his father-in-law’s past advisory role in Gaza’s Hamas-led government. A judge ordered him freed, citing a lack of evidence for the government’s claims (May 14).⁶⁶,⁸⁰

On Mar 25, agents arrested Rümeysa Öztürk, a Turkish PhD student at Tufts, in Somerville, Massachusetts.¹⁹ She had co-written an opinion piece in the student newspaper. It criticized Tufts’ response to the war in Gaza and called for Tufts to cut its investment ties to Israel. A State Department memo of Mar 21 records approval of revoking her F-1 student visa.¹⁹ On Apr 14, ICE arrested Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian LPR at Columbia, at his interview in Vermont to become a U.S. citizen.²² On Apr 30, Judge Crawford released him. He said legal residents not charged with crimes or misconduct “are being arrested and threatened with deportation for stating their views on the political issues of the day.”²² (The Second Circuit canceled that order in July 2026; see Removal cases and appeals below.)⁷⁵ Öztürk was ordered released on May 9.²³,¹⁹ Khalil was released on Jun 20. Judge Farbiarz had found that his detention may have been retaliation, or punishment, for protected speech.¹⁷

On Feb 26, 2026, five DHS agents entered a residence owned by Columbia and arrested Elmina Aghayeva, a senior from Azerbaijan. Columbia says the agents got in by saying they were police looking for a missing child. Its security cameras recorded them showing pictures of the child they described. A campus public-safety officer asked several times for a warrant, and none was produced. Acting president Claire Shipman said “misrepresenting identity and other facts to gain access to a residential building is a breach of protocol”. DHS said its agents “did not and would never impersonate NYPD officers”. DHS also said her student visa had been terminated in 2016 for not attending classes. She was released that afternoon. That was after Mayor Zohran Mamdani said Trump told him she would be freed “imminently.”⁷³ On Mar 2 Judge Katherine Polk Failla dismissed her habeas petition at DOJ’s request, because her release had made it moot. A habeas petition asks a court to free someone held unlawfully. DHS says she is still in removal proceedings.¹⁰²

Removal cases and appeals

In Khalil’s case, a Third Circuit panel ruled 2–1 on Jan 15, 2026 that the district judge who freed him lacked jurisdiction. Jurisdiction is a court’s power to hear a case. The Board of Immigration Appeals, the Justice Department’s top immigration court, issued a final removal order on Apr 9. In May, the full Third Circuit voted 6–5 not to rehear the panel ruling. His lawyers asked the court to hold its ruling while he asked the Supreme Court to hear the case (a petition for certiorari). On Aug 14 he asked the Fifth Circuit to review the removal order (Khalil v. Blanche, No. 26-60344, pending). On Oct 19, he petitioned the Supreme Court.³¹,¹⁰,⁶⁹,⁸³,⁸⁴ On Feb 13, 2026 (made public Feb 17), an immigration judge rejected the bid to deport Mahdawi. The judge did so without prejudice, meaning the government could try again.³⁰,⁷⁶

On Apr 10, 2026, the Justice Department (DOJ) fired immigration judges Roopal Patel and Nina Froes. In January, Patel had ruled that Rubio’s revocation of Öztürk’s visa did not require her removal, and Patel ended Öztürk’s case. Froes had blocked Mahdawi’s deportation. Both judges were probationary, meaning still in a trial period. They were among six immigration judges fired that day. DHS has appealed Patel’s ruling. Patel told GBH News she “could have ruled either way in that case and probably would have still ended up fired.”⁷¹ Öztürk reached a settlement and returned to Turkey on Apr 17. She cited “state-imposed violence and hostility.”³² On Apr 29, the Board of Immigration Appeals reversed Froes’s dismissal of Mahdawi’s case. It held that DHS had proved him removable “by clear and convincing evidence” under the foreign-policy ground, based on Rubio’s determination. It sent the case back so he could apply for relief such as asylum.⁷⁵ On May 29, Mahdawi asked the First Circuit to review the case (Mahdawi v. Blanche, No. 26-1648). He said he would not seek asylum but “seeks judicial review to retain his Lawful Permanent Resident status.”⁷⁵,⁸⁵ On Jun 3, he told the court he would file no request for relief. Immigration Judge Angela Munson then ordered him removed because “removability was previously determined” by the Board.⁷⁵,⁸⁶

On Jul 21, a Second Circuit panel ruled in Mahdawi’s habeas case (Mahdawi v. Trump, No. 25-1113). Habeas corpus is a court’s power to order the government to justify holding someone. Circuit Judge Debra Ann Livingston wrote the ruling, joined by Judges Steven Menashi and William Nardini. The panel canceled Judge Crawford’s April 2025 release order. It directed that the case be dismissed because the court lacked jurisdiction: “We conclude that the district court should not have reached this question.” The panel did not decide his First and Fifth Amendment claims.⁷⁵,⁸⁷ The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said he was not expected to be detained again right away. ACLU lawyer Michael Tan said the government claims “the unprecedented power to detain people for months or even years on end to censor their speech.”⁷⁵ On July 23, a divided Fourth Circuit upheld Suri’s release and refused to move his case to Texas. It wrote that “denying judicial review of detention claims like Suri’s misreads Congress’ statutes.”⁶⁶,⁸¹

Visa revocations, SEVIS records and vetting

On Mar 25, 2025, the day Öztürk was arrested, the State Department sent a cable, an official message to its officers. It ordered social-media checks of people applying for student and exchange visas. It treated posts “sympathizing with” terrorist activities as a sign that a person should not get a visa. It also asked for a review of current visa holders.¹³ Reporting, including by Just Security, described a “catch and revoke” program assisted by artificial intelligence (AI).²⁰ By Apr 24, Inside Higher Ed’s tracker listed more than 1,800 students at more than 280 schools whose visas had been revoked.²¹

Starting in late March and early April 2025, ICE ended the records of thousands of F-1 students in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS). SEVIS is the government database of international students. The Just Security tracker counted over 4,700. Many students learned of it only when their universities checked the database.⁴² In Atlanta, Judge Victoria Calvert (N.D. Ga.) first protected 133 students who had sued. She used a temporary restraining order (TRO), a short-term order that stops something while a judge looks at the case.⁴² On Apr 25, a government lawyer told a federal judge that ICE was restoring the ended records nationwide. ICE was doing this while it developed a policy for terminations. The lawyer said ICE would not change a record “solely based on the NCIC” (National Crime Information Center) finding that had triggered the terminations. By then, Inside Higher Ed had identified more than 1,840 students and recent graduates at more than 280 colleges reporting SEVIS changes.⁴²,⁷⁷ On May 2, Calvert extended the protection. Atlanta News First describes the order as another TRO. The Just Security tracker lists it as a preliminary injunction, an order that stops something until the case is decided.⁴²,⁷⁸ On May 22, Judge Jeffrey S. White (N.D. Cal.) issued a nationwide preliminary injunction in Doe v. Trump⁵². The plaintiffs’ law firm calls it the first in the series of SEVIS suits. It barred ICE from “arresting, detaining, transferring, or imposing legal consequences on students based on SEVIS terminations”. The firm says White found the terminations arbitrary.⁴²,⁷⁹

On Jun 18, a State Department cable required everyone applying for student and exchange visas to make their social-media accounts public.⁵ It told officers to look for “any indications of hostility towards the citizens, culture, government, institutions or founding principles of the United States.”⁵ The rule was extended to people applying for H-1B work visas in December.⁵ On Aug 19, US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) added “anti-Americanism” as a factor in immigration-benefit decisions it makes at its discretion, such as green cards and work permits. CBS reported it was unclear how broadly USCIS would define the term.⁶ On Aug 21, the State Department said all 55 million+ visa holders were under “continuous vetting,” meaning ongoing review. Days earlier, it had said that more than 6,000 student visas had been revoked since Trump returned to office.²⁵ More than 8,000 student visas were revoked in 2025.⁴

On July 16, 2026, DHS finalized a rule that limits F and J visas to the length of a student’s program, at most four years. It cut the F-visa grace period, the time allowed to leave after a program ends, from 60 to 30 days. It capped I (media) visas at 240 days, or 90 for Chinese nationals. Secretary Markwayne Mullin cited students who stayed “indefinitely” by “perpetually enrolling in courses to avoid having to leave the U.S.”⁶⁸ The NewsGuild-CWA and higher-education groups sued on Aug 18. Judge Dennis Saylor issued a preliminary injunction against the rule on Sept 14.⁶⁸,⁸⁸,⁸⁹

Revocations and bars over speech beyond campus

After Charlie Kirk’s killing, Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau sent a directive to consular officials, who handle visas abroad. On Sept 15, 2025, Rubio said “Visa revocations are under way” for foreigners who “celebrate the death of our fellow citizens.”¹¹ On Oct 14, the State Department posted six revoked visas.²⁶ One was revoked for calling Kirk’s rhetoric “racist, xenophobic, misogynistic.”²⁶ Former State Department legal adviser Harold Koh had said in September that revoking visas over statements about Kirk’s death is “a First Amendment violation.”²⁷ On Oct 26, ICE detained British commentator Sami Hamdi at San Francisco’s airport during a U.S. speaking tour. Hamdi is a critic of Israel’s conduct in Gaza. DHS had revoked his visa and said he supports terrorism. According to the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) California, the government alleged in court only that he had overstayed his visa. Revoking the visa in the middle of his visit made that possible.⁶⁷ He left around Nov 12, a departure KQED describes as voluntary.⁹⁷

On Dec 23, 2025, Rubio barred five Europeans over “censorship,” and he stated that their presence has “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences.”¹² One of them, Imran Ahmed, is a US permanent resident, and a judge blocked his detention.⁹⁸ In July 2026, Colombian activist Beto Coral was deported to Colombia. He had supported a leftist candidate in Colombia’s presidential election. NPR gives no reason for the deportation. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau cited his case as an example of abuse of the asylum system.³³ On July 14, Chief Judge James Boasberg (D.D.C.) paused a State Department policy. He used §705 of the Administrative Procedure Act, which lets a court pause an agency action while a case goes on.⁵⁶ The policy denies visas to, keeps out or removes noncitizens who work on misinformation, fact-checking and content moderation. According to the suit, the policy grew out of a May 2025 ban by Rubio. That ban covered foreigners “complicit in censoring Americans,” in Rubio’s words.⁴⁴ In Coalition for Independent Technology Research v. Rubio⁵⁷, he found the policy likely burdens protected speech based on viewpoint. The coalition includes the Center for Countering Digital Hate, whose CEO Imran Ahmed was barred in December 2025.⁴⁴ On Nov 4, 2026, Boasberg granted the coalition’s request to clarify his order. He held that paragraph 8 of a Dec 2, 2025 consular cable is “a core component of the Policy’s operative force” and is covered by the pause. The government had described that paragraph as only allowing vetting. Boasberg called that “an understatement.”⁷⁰,⁹⁰

Harvard and other universities

On Mar 10, 2025, the Education Department warned 60 colleges of enforcement under Title VI⁵⁹ over complaints of antisemitism. Title VI is a civil rights law that bars discrimination by race, color or national origin in programs that get federal money.¹⁸ A judge blocked DHS’s May 22 revocation of Harvard’s certification to enroll students on visas. Two weeks later, on Jun 4, the President issued a formal public announcement, Proclamation 10948. It suspended entry of new Harvard students and exchange visitors on F, M and J visas. It relied on a part of the INA that lets the President suspend the entry of noncitizens (INA §212(f))⁵³, and it cited national security. It also told the Secretary of State to consider whether current Harvard students’ visas should be revoked. NPR put the number affected at more than 7,000 F-1 and J-1 visa holders, about a quarter of the student body.⁴³ Judge Allison Burroughs issued a TRO on June 5.⁹⁹ On June 23, she issued a preliminary injunction. She wrote that the proclamation “quite obviously has no ‘legitimate grounding’” and is “inexplicable by anything but animus.”¹⁰⁰ Animus means hostility. On Jul 9, DHS Secretary Kristi Noem demanded Harvard’s records on foreign students.²⁴ The court rulings on Harvard’s and the University of California’s funding are set out under Title VI in Why it matters below.

AAUP v. Rubio and other policy rulings

On Sept 30, 2025, after a nine-day trial, Judge William Young ruled in AAUP v. Rubio. He found that Rubio and Noem had acted together to chill the speech of noncitizen students and faculty, meaning to discourage them from speaking.⁷ He found this “by clear and convincing evidence,” a high standard of proof. He held that it violated the First Amendment and the Administrative Procedure Act⁵⁵.⁷ The suit was brought by the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and the Middle East Studies Association (MESA).⁷ Trial evidence showed officials relied on the website Canary Mission and that Stephen Miller was involved.²⁸ The Jan 22, 2026 remedy canceled the policy. It also presumed that any harmful action against an AAUP or MESA member was retaliation, unless the government proved otherwise by clear and convincing evidence.²⁹ On Apr 7, the First Circuit paused Young’s presumption.⁸ On Aug 28, Judge Noël Wise ruled that students cannot be deported for criticizing Israel’s war in Gaza.³⁴

Key dates

• 2025-03-08 — Khalil seized — → ledger
• 2025-03-25 — Öztürk seized — → ledger
• 2025-04 (early) — ICE terminates SEVIS records of F-1 students — → ledger
• 2025-05-22 — Nationwide injunction against SEVIS terminations — → ledger
• 2025-06-04 — Proclamation 10948 bars Harvard’s foreign students — → ledger
• 2025-06-18 — Social-media vetting cable — → ledger
• 2025-06-23 — Burroughs enjoins Proclamation 10948 — → ledger
• 2025-08-19 — USCIS “anti-Americanism” factor — → ledger
• 2025-09-15 — Kirk-remarks visa revocations — → ledger
• 2025-09-30 — AAUP v. Rubio ruling — → ledger
• 2025-12-23 — Visa bans on five Europeans — → ledger
• 2026-01-15 — Third Circuit rules the district court lacked jurisdiction over Khalil’s habeas case — → ledger
• 2026-04-10 — DOJ fires immigration judges in Öztürk and Mahdawi cases — → ledger
• 2026-04-29 — Board of Immigration Appeals holds Mahdawi removable — → ledger
• 2026-07-14 — Boasberg stays researcher visa policy (CITR v. Rubio) — → ledger
• 2026-07-16 — DHS visa-duration rule — → ledger
• 2026-07-21 — Second Circuit vacates Mahdawi’s release order — → ledger
• 2026-07-23 — Fourth Circuit affirms Suri’s release — → ledger
• 2026-08-28 — Judge Wise rules students cannot be deported for criticizing Israel’s war in Gaza — → ledger
• 2026-10-19 — Khalil petitions the Supreme Court — → ledger

Why it matters

First Amendment and the foreign-policy ground (8 U.S.C. §1227(a)(4)(C)). The First Amendment protects freedom of speech. Bridges v. Wixon (1945) applies it to noncitizens living in the United States. The question is whether it bars the government from removing people because of what they said. The tools at issue are the foreign-policy ground, with its §1182(a)(3)(C)(iii) “compelling” interest requirement for lawful speech, and visa revocation (8 U.S.C. §1201(i)). The administration’s position, in Rubio’s determinations, was that the foreign-policy finding alone supports removal. DHS memos made public in January 2026 stated it “has not identified any alternative grounds for removability.”² Judge Young found that Rubio and Noem violated the First Amendment and the Administrative Procedure Act (5 U.S.C. §706). He called the campaign “a full-throated assault on the First Amendment”. His Jan 22, 2026 remedy set the policy aside under the APA.⁷,⁹ In individual habeas cases, judges ordered Mahdawi, Khalil and Suri released. Judge Vernon Broderick barred Ahmed’s arrest or detention.²²,¹⁷,⁶⁶,⁹⁸ In Mahdawi’s case, the Board of Immigration Appeals held on Apr 29, 2026 that the foreign-policy ground (§1227(a)(4)(C)(i)⁴⁵) made him removable based on Rubio’s determination. The Second Circuit later canceled his release order because the court lacked jurisdiction. It did not decide his First Amendment claim.⁷⁵,⁸⁷

Jurisdiction channeling (8 U.S.C. §1252(b)(9), (g)). The INA has jurisdiction-channeling provisions.⁵⁸ They route many claims about removal into one path: an appeals court’s review of the final removal order. The question is whether they bar district courts from hearing detention claims like these. The Third Circuit (Khalil) and the Second Circuit (Mahdawi, Jul 21, 2026) held that the district courts lacked jurisdiction. The Fourth Circuit (Suri v. Trump⁶¹) held that §1252(b)(9) and (g) did not take that power away. Khalil’s petition and the government’s petition in Trump v. Suri are before the Supreme Court.³¹,⁸³,⁶⁶,⁸¹,¹⁰,⁷⁵,⁸⁷

Immigration-judge independence (8 C.F.R. §1003.10(b)). Immigration judges are DOJ lawyers whom the Attorney General can remove. But a federal regulation, 8 C.F.R. §1003.10(b),⁷² requires them to “exercise their independent judgment and discretion”. The April 2026 firings of the judges who ruled for Öztürk and Mahdawi raise a due-process question: whether people get a neutral judge. Due process means the fair legal steps the government owes before taking someone’s liberty. The Executive Office for Immigration Review (EOIR) said it “does not comment on personnel matters.”⁷¹

Fourth Amendment (entry to a residence). The Fourth Amendment⁷⁴ protects people against unreasonable searches and seizures. Aghayeva’s arrest raises the question of whether consent to enter is valid when officers get it by misleading people about who they are or why they came. An administrative immigration warrant does not allow officers to enter a home. Her release followed a conversation between the mayor and the President, not a court or agency ruling.⁷³

Visa revocation (8 U.S.C. §1201(i)). The revocations tied to Kirk used §1201(i). Rubio’s stated reason was that the holders had celebrated “the death of our fellow citizens,” and Harold Koh argued the revocations violated the First Amendment.¹¹,²⁷ Several cases ended without a ruling on the merits because the person left the country. In Hamdi’s case, DHS paired revocation under §1201(i) with a claim that he could be removed for overstaying (8 U.S.C. §1227(a)(1)(B)). His lawyers argued the revocation was retaliation for protected speech.⁹³,⁹⁶,⁹⁷,⁶⁷

Administrative Procedure Act (APA, 5 U.S.C. §706) and SEVIS. ICE’s SEVIS terminations in spring 2025 were a separate tool from the State Department’s visa revocations. Judge White stopped their legal consequences nationwide (May 22, 2025). The plaintiffs’ law firm says he found the terminations arbitrary.⁴²,⁷⁹

Presidential entry suspension (8 U.S.C. §1182(f)). Proclamation 10948 used the President’s power to suspend entry against the students of one university. Judge Burroughs blocked it, finding animus.¹⁰⁰

Consular vetting under Kleindienst v. Mandel (1972). Under Mandel, decisions by consular officers on applicants abroad get only limited First Amendment review from courts. The State Department’s June 2025 cable tells officers to look for “hostility” toward U.S. institutions. It also tells them to treat private accounts as possible “evasiveness”. The legal question is whether screening people by viewpoint fits the First Amendment and the INA’s grounds for refusing entry.⁵

Discretionary immigration benefits (USCIS “anti-Americanism” factor). USCIS’s “anti-Americanism” factor applies to benefit decisions the agency makes at its discretion. CBS reported it was unclear how broadly USCIS would define the term. The agency said it would draw on an immigration-law provision that bars citizenship for people who advocate communism, totalitarianism or the violent overthrow of the government.⁶

Agency discretion over visa duration (DHS F, J and I visa rule). Judge Saylor blocked the visa-duration rule as permitting “the entirely unguided exercise of discretion,” meaning nothing guides officials’ choices. He wrote that “the possibilities for abuse are rampant,” including the “obvious likelihood” that visas of journalists critical of the government “will not be renewed.”⁶⁸,⁸⁹

Title VI (42 U.S.C. §2000d and §2000d-1). Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. §2000d) bars discrimination based on race, color or national origin in programs that get federal money. Another section of the law (42 U.S.C. §2000d-1)⁶⁰ requires notice, a hearing and a report to Congress before the government cuts off funds. The task force tied enforcement against campus antisemitism to funding actions against universities (see Law Firms and Universities).¹⁶ On Sept 3, 2025, Judge Allison Burroughs held that Harvard’s funding cuts were retaliation for speech protected by the First Amendment. She held that they also violated Title VI and the APA, and she called antisemitism a “smokescreen”. The White House appealed.³⁵ On Nov 14, 2025, Judge Rita Lin barred University of California funding cuts made without the notice and hearing Title VI requires. She found “overwhelming evidence” of “a concerted campaign to purge ‘woke,’ ‘left,’ and ‘socialist’ viewpoints.”³⁶ Judge Richard Stearns dismissed the government’s Title VI suit against Harvard on Aug 13, 2026. Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon said, “We disagree with the ruling and are assessing next steps.”⁴⁰

National Security Presidential Memorandum 7 (NSPM-7) and the First Amendment. The Sept 25, 2025 memorandum is a written instruction from the President. It directs Joint Terrorism Task Forces to investigate “networks, entities, and organizations that foment political violence”. It lists “anti-Americanism” among the signs of ideology to look for. The First Amendment question is whether a person’s viewpoint can be a reason to open an investigation.³⁷ See also Federal Data Sharing and Surveillance, Travel Bans, Refugees and Denaturalization, Detention and Deaths in Custody and Prosecutions and Investigations of Trump Critics.

Outcome

Where things stand

As of November 2026, court orders block the speech-based removal policy and several related measures while appeals continue. The vetting measures remain in force (see Status). Khalil, free since June 2025, faces a final removal order to Algeria or Syria.¹⁰ Mahdawi has been ordered removed (Jun 3, 2026) and is challenging the order in the First Circuit. The Second Circuit canceled the order that freed him, and no new detention has been reported.⁷⁵,⁸⁶,⁸⁷ Kordia faces an immigration judge’s removal order that bars sending her to Israel (Nov 3, 2025).¹⁰¹ A separate plan announced Aug 24–25, 2026 would revoke up to 200,000 visas. It covers people who came on tourist and business visas and later sought asylum, which the State Department calls visa fraud. It is not a speech measure, though officials cited Coral’s case.³⁹ For Harvard, the record gives the frozen sum as both $2.2B and $2.6B.³⁵,⁴⁰ Gaps in the record: Supreme Court action on the Khalil and Suri petitions; rulings in the pending AAUP v. Rubio and Wise appeals, in Khalil v. Blanche and in Mahdawi v. Blanche; and later rulings in Chung’s case.

Status

Who is affected

Noncitizen students and scholars are affected by arrests, detention and removal cases based on the Secretary of State’s foreign-policy findings.²,¹,⁶⁴ Visa holders are affected when the State Department revokes visas and when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) ends their records in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS).⁴,⁴² Visa applicants are affected by social-media review. People applying for green cards, work permits and other benefits granted at the agency’s discretion are affected by an “anti-Americanism” factor.⁵,⁶ Universities are affected by funding actions under Title VI. At Harvard, they are also affected by a ban on entry for foreign students.³⁵,⁴³ Foreign commentators and researchers are affected by visa revocations and bars tied to their speech or work. Two immigration judges who ruled against removal were fired.²⁶,¹²,⁴⁴,⁷¹

• Student-visa holders (visa revocations under continuous vetting, In force) — Inside Higher Ed’s tracker listed more than 1,800 students at more than 280 schools with revoked visas as of Apr 24, 2025. In August, days before Aug 21, the State Department said that more than 6,000 student visas had been revoked since Trump returned to office. More than 8,000 were revoked over the year.²¹,²⁵,⁴
• F-1 students with terminated SEVIS records (SEVIS terminations, Blocked) — ICE ended over 4,700 records from late March 2025, by the Just Security tracker’s count. The Justice Department (DOJ) told courts Apr 25 that the records were being restored. Judge Jeffrey S. White barred any legal consequence of the terminations nationwide May 22.⁴²,⁷⁷,⁷⁹
• Harvard’s international students (Proclamation 10948, Blocked) — More than 7,000 F-1 and J-1 visa holders, about a quarter of the student body, were covered by the Jun 4, 2025 ban on entry. Judge Allison Burroughs issued a temporary restraining order Jun 5 and a preliminary injunction Jun 23.⁴³,⁹⁹,¹⁰⁰
• Detained students and scholars (removal cases, Pending) — Khalil was held 104 days until his release Jun 20, 2025 and has a final removal order (Apr 9, 2026). Kordia was held a year until her release on a $100,000 bond (Mar 16, 2026). A judge ordered Suri freed May 14, 2025. Mahdawi was ordered removed Jun 3, 2026, and no new detention has been reported.¹,¹⁷,¹⁰,⁶⁴,⁸²,⁶⁶,⁸⁰,⁷⁵,⁸⁶
• Students and visitors who left the country (departures, Concluded) — Srinivasan left for Canada after her visa was revoked in March 2025. Taal announced his departure Mar 31, 2025, and his suit was dropped without a ruling on the merits. After ICE detained Hamdi Oct 26, he left around Nov 12, 2025. Öztürk returned to Turkey under a settlement Apr 17, 2026, and Coral was deported in July 2026.⁶²,⁹³,⁹⁶,⁹⁷,⁶⁷,³²,³³
• All visa holders (continuous vetting, In force) — The State Department said Aug 21, 2025 that all 55 million+ visa holders were under “continuous vetting.”²⁵
• Student, exchange and H-1B applicants (social-media vetting, In force) — A Jun 18, 2025 cable required student and exchange applicants to make their accounts public. It told officers to look for “any indications of hostility” toward U.S. institutions. The rule was extended to H-1B work-visa applicants in December 2025.⁵
• Green-card and work-permit applicants (“anti-Americanism” factor, In force) — US Citizenship and Immigration Services added the factor to benefit decisions made at its discretion, such as green cards and work permits, Aug 19, 2025. CBS reported it was unclear how broadly the agency would define it.⁶
• Visa holders who commented on Charlie Kirk’s killing (Kirk-remarks revocations, In force) — The State Department posted six revoked visas Oct 14, 2025, one revoked for calling Kirk’s rhetoric “racist, xenophobic, misogynistic.” Former State legal adviser Harold Koh had said in September that revoking visas over statements about Kirk’s death is “a First Amendment violation.”²⁶,²⁷
• Five Europeans barred over “censorship” (visa bans, In force; Ahmed’s detention, Blocked) — Rubio barred them Dec 23, 2025. Judge Vernon Broderick barred the arrest or detention of Imran Ahmed, a US permanent resident.¹²,⁹⁸
• Misinformation, fact-checking and content-moderation workers (visa policy, Blocked) — Chief Judge James Boasberg paused the policy Jul 14, 2026, finding it likely burdens protected speech by viewpoint. He held Nov 4 that the pause covers paragraph 8 of a Dec 2, 2025 cable to consular officers.⁴⁴,⁷⁰,⁹⁰
• Members of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and the Middle East Studies Association (MESA) (ideological-deportation policy, Blocked) — Judge William Young found by clear and convincing evidence (Sept 30, 2025) that Rubio and Noem acted together to chill the speech of noncitizen students and faculty. His Jan 22, 2026 remedy presumed that harmful actions against members were retaliation. The First Circuit paused that presumption Apr 7.⁷,²⁹,⁸
• F, J and I visa holders (Department of Homeland Security visa-duration rule, Blocked) — The Jul 16, 2026 rule limited F and J visas to program length, at most four years. It cut the F-visa grace period from 60 to 30 days and capped I (media) visas at 240 days, or 90 for Chinese nationals. Judge Dennis Saylor blocked it Sept 14.⁶⁸,⁸⁹
• Harvard and the University of California (funding cuts, Blocked) — Judge Burroughs voided Harvard’s funding freeze, which the record gives as both $2.2B and $2.6B, Sept 3, 2025. Judge Rita Lin barred University of California cuts made without the notice and hearing Title VI requires Nov 14, 2025.³⁵,⁴⁰,³⁶
• Immigration judges (firings, Concluded) — DOJ fired six immigration judges Apr 10, 2026, among them Roopal Patel and Nina Froes, who had ruled for Öztürk and Mahdawi. Both were probationary. The Executive Office for Immigration Review said it “does not comment on personnel matters.”⁷¹

Key players

• Marco Rubio — Secretary of State — made the foreign-policy determinations and announced the Kirk-remarks revocations.⁷,¹¹
• Kristi Noem — DHS Secretary (until March 2026) — co-defendant in AAUP v. Rubio; subpoenaed Harvard.⁷,²⁴
• Markwayne Mullin — DHS Secretary (from March 2026) — issued the visa-duration rule.⁶⁸
• Stephen Miller — White House adviser — involved in the policy, per trial evidence.²⁸
• Harmeet Dhillon — Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights (from April 2025) — made campus antisemitism a priority for the division.⁴¹
• Judge William Young — U.S. District Judge (D. Mass.) — held the policy unconstitutional in AAUP v. Rubio (Sept 30, 2025).⁷
• Khalil, Öztürk, Mahdawi, Suri, Kordia — noncitizen students and scholars detained in 2025 — principal individual cases.¹,¹⁹,²²,⁶⁶,⁶⁴

Chronology

• 2025-01-20 — EO 14161 heightened visa vetting — → ledger
• 2025-01-29 — EO 14188 on antisemitism — → ledger
• 2025-02-03 — Task Force to Combat Antisemitism — → ledger
• 2025-03-05 — Srinivasan notified her student visa is revoked — → ledger
• 2025-03-07 — ICE agents come to Srinivasan’s apartment — → ledger
• 2025-03-08 — Khalil seized — → ledger
• 2025-03-09 — ICE searches Yunseo Chung’s parents’ home — → ledger
• 2025-03-09 — Srinivasan’s SEVIS status ended; Columbia de-enrolls her — → ledger
• 2025-03-10 — Education Dept letters to 60 colleges — → ledger
• 2025-03-14 — DHS announces Leqaa Kordia’s arrest in Newark — → ledger
• 2025-03-14 — Momodou Taal’s visa revoked — → ledger
• 2025-03-14 — Noem says Srinivasan, now in Canada, chose to “self deport” — → ledger
• 2025-03-15 — Taal sues over the revocation; first motion denied — → ledger
• 2025-03-17 — ICE arrests Badar Khan Suri — → ledger
• 2025-03-25 — Öztürk seized — → ledger
• 2025-03-25 — State Department directive on social-media activity “sympathizing with” terrorism — → ledger
• 2025-03-25 — Judge bars ICE from arresting Yunseo Chung — → ledger
• 2025-03-31 — Taal announces he is leaving the US — → ledger
• 2025-04 (early) — ICE terminates SEVIS records of F-1 students — → ledger
• 2025-04-07 — Dhillon heads Civil Rights Division — → ledger
• 2025-04-09 — DHS announces social-media screening for “antisemitic” content — → ledger
• 2025-04-14 — Mahdawi arrested at naturalization interview — → ledger
• 2025-04-25 — Government tells a court ICE is restoring SEVIS records — → ledger
• 2025-05-02 — Judge Calvert extends protection for 133 SEVIS plaintiffs — → ledger
• 2025-05-09 — Öztürk released — → ledger
• 2025-05-14 — Suri released from ICE detention — → ledger
• 2025-05-22 — Judge White’s nationwide SEVIS injunction — → ledger
• 2025-05-28 — Chinese student visa revocations — → ledger
• 2025-06-04 — Proclamation 10948 bars Harvard’s foreign students — → ledger
• 2025-06-05 — Burroughs issues TRO against Proclamation 10948 — → ledger
• 2025-06-18 — Social-media vetting cable — → ledger
• 2025-06-20 — Khalil released on bail; BIA final removal order (Apr 9, 2026) — → ledger
• 2025-06-23 — Burroughs enjoins Proclamation 10948 — → ledger
• 2025-07-09 — Noem demands Harvard student records — → ledger
• 2025-08-19 — USCIS “anti-Americanism” factor — → ledger
• 2025-08-21 — Continuous vetting of 55M visa holders — → ledger
• 2025-09-03 — Burroughs voids Harvard freeze — → ledger
• 2025-09-15 — Kirk-remarks visa revocations — → ledger
• 2025-09-25 — NSPM-7 — → ledger
• 2025-09-30 — AAUP v. Rubio ruling — → ledger
• 2025-10-14 — State posts six Kirk-remarks visa revocations — → ledger
• 2025-10-26 — Sami Hamdi detained at SFO — → ledger
• 2025-11-03 — Immigration judge orders Kordia removed, but not to Israel; asylum denied — → ledger
• 2025-11-12 — Hamdi leaves the US — → ledger
• 2025-11-14 — Lin blocks UCLA demand — → ledger
• 2025-12-23 — Visa bans on five Europeans — → ledger
• 2025-12-25 — Judge Broderick bars Imran Ahmed’s arrest or detention — → ledger
• 2026-01-15 — Third Circuit panel rules against jurisdiction in Khalil v. Trump — → ledger
• 2026-02-13 — Immigration judge rejects Mahdawi deportation — → ledger
• 2026-02-26 — Columbia student Aghayeva arrested in residence, released after Mamdani call — → ledger
• 2026-03-02 — Failla dismisses Aghayeva’s habeas petition as moot — → ledger
• 2026-03-16 — Kordia released on $100,000 bond — → ledger
• 2026-04-10 — DOJ fires immigration judges in Öztürk and Mahdawi cases — → ledger
• 2026-04-17 — Öztürk returns to Turkey — → ledger
• 2026-04-29 — Board of Immigration Appeals holds Mahdawi removable — → ledger
• 2026-05-29 — Mahdawi petitions the First Circuit (Mahdawi v. Blanche) — → ledger
• 2026-06-03 — Immigration judge orders Mahdawi removed — → ledger
• 2026-07-14 — Boasberg stays researcher visa policy (CITR v. Rubio) — → ledger
• 2026-07-16 — DHS visa-duration rule — → ledger
• 2026-07-16 — Beto Coral deported to Colombia — → ledger
• 2026-07-21 — Second Circuit vacates Mahdawi’s release order — → ledger
• 2026-07-23 — Fourth Circuit affirms Suri’s release — → ledger
• 2026-08-13 — Stearns dismisses Harvard Title VI suit — → ledger
• 2026-08-14 — Khalil petitions the Fifth Circuit (Khalil v. Blanche) — → ledger
• 2026-08-18 — NewsGuild-CWA and higher-education groups sue over visa-duration rule — → ledger
• 2026-08-24 to 25 — 200,000-visa revocation plan (asylum seekers) — → ledger
• 2026-08-28 — Judge Wise rules students cannot be deported for criticizing Israel’s war in Gaza — → ledger
• 2026-09-14 — Saylor enjoins visa-duration rule — → ledger
• 2026-10-19 — Khalil petitions the Supreme Court — → ledger
• 2026-11-04 — Boasberg holds cable paragraph 8 within the CITR stay — → ledger
• 2026-11-07 — State Department declares Lebanon’s Detroit consul general no longer welcome over posts credited to him praising the 1983 Beirut bombing — → ledger

Sources