By William Coffman, Opinions & Editorials Editor

One of Xavier’s international students had their student visa revoked last Wednesday. Xavier is the latest post-secondary institution in Ohio to face this situation, joining the University of Cincinnati, Ohio State University, Kent State University and others around the state and nation.

Visas are necessary documents for non-citizens traveling into another country. They are a document that allows one to remain in a country for a specific period, and for a specific purpose. 

In lieu of the Trump administration’s efforts to revoke foreign-born student visas, the university released a statement following the announcement of the Xavier student’s visa revocation, affirming its commitment to supporting its international students.

“On Wednesday, the university became aware that the visa of at least one Xavier international student had been revoked. Members of International Student and Scholar Services immediately conducted outreach and are currently supporting students as they navigate this difficult situation,” the university said in a statement. “Prior to this incident, the university proactively developed a response plan to ensure any student who may be impacted by unexpected changes will be supported. While the university must comply with US law, it must also honor its steadfast commitment to caring for the whole person, a tenant that extends to every member of our community, especially during times of uncertainty.”

It is this current uncertainty, Xavier and other universities across the country are having to address. Megan Lindle, Director of International Student and Scholar Services, clarified some of the terminology behind the news, as well as where Xavier stands regarding access to information.

“What we have access to is the Federal Student and Exchange Visitor Information System. We don’t really have access to the visa system itself, where we can see if a visa is revoked or not, but we can see if their record was terminated in the Student Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS). It doesn’t tell us for sure if it was revoked, it gives us a statement that is very unclear,” Lindle said. “It’s never been used in the past, and the government does not give us any additional information beyond that. So really, we don’t have a lot of additional information to share because we don’t have that from the government.”

Lindle outlined some plans the university has for supporting students during this time.

 “We did send one email out to students initially, just to say that if they had any concerns with what’s happening right now in the news, they can come in and speak with myself or with Grace, our assistant director, and we’ll be here to listen to their concerns and to help address them. We also are planning to do an additional support dinner for our international students,” Lindle said. 

“I am currently in the US on an F-1 visa. I underwent the process of application a few years ago, however, from what I remember I had to fill out a multiple page online survey that asked questions about me, my parents, their occupations, the places I have traveled to, and it made me provide other details such as my social media accounts,” sophomore business management major Edvards Kamaruts from Riga, Latvia explained. 

Kamaruts is one of more than a hundred international students here at Xavier who have navigated this process and are in America studying on a visa. Kamaruts also had to interview at the U.S. Embassy.

“During the interview, they asked questions about how I applied to Xavier and what I was planning to study there. After the interview, I had to provide them with my passport, forms from Xavier that proved that I was admitted by them and a bank statement proving that I had enough money to cover the costs of a single year’s tuition at Xavier,” Kamaruts said. 

With the student visa, Kamaruts is allowed to study in the U.S. but is still expected to answer questions to border patrol upon his return to the U.S. for the start of semesters. 

The Center for International Education office is located on the second floor of the Gallagher Student Center. Students in need of support can reach out to their office at any time.