Three recent University of Louisville graduates who received international visas through the school authorizing them to stay and work in their fields have had their legal status terminated by the Department of Homeland Security.
A spokesman for the university confirmed Friday to Kentucky Public Radio that their visa database records had been terminated, a week after being asked if enrolled students or those in work placement programs have had visas pulled.
The three graduates were participating in the federal Optional Practical Training program, which authorizes temporary employment for international students with F-1 visas that is directly related to their major area of study. Such employment can last up to three years if students are in science and technology fields, while they wait on receiving other employment visas.
U of L spokesman John Karman wrote in an email that the former students had their visa records terminated in the federal database. He added the university is not aware of any current students who have had their records terminated, “nor are we aware of any VISA revocations.”
According to the Associated Press, around 242,000 foreigners are employed through the OPT program, while another 842,000 international students are pursuing graduate and undergraduate degrees with F-1 visas. More than 1,000 international students at 160 colleges have had their visas revoked or legal status terminated since late March.
Within Kentucky, one Murray State University international student has had their visa revoked by DHS, while the University of Kentucky and Campbellsville University have both confirmed multiple students having visas revoked, without citing a specific number.
In March, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the State Department was revoking visas for students whose activities “run counter” to national interests, including some protesting Israel’s war in Gaza and others facing criminal charges.
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller is a longtime critic of the Optional Practical Training program, having pushed for its elimination in the first Trump administration. The America First Policy Institute, a think tank with strong ties to Trump, has called the program illegal and said it should be terminated, arguing the international graduates amount to “a cheaper alternative to similarly skilled American graduates.”
During the first Trump administration, a trade association of CEOs from major American companies made a case for the president to keep the Optional Practical Training program, arguing that scaling it back would hurt the economy and result in job losses for both international and native-born workers.
Democratic state Rep. Nima Kulkarni of Louisville, an immigration attorney, says if the U of L graduates’ records have been terminated in the federal immigration database, they are likely “out of status,” which means federal agents are able to remove them from the country.
“I think we need to be incredibly careful about how we're treating some of the best and the brightest minds in the world who are coming to the U.S. — and to Kentucky specifically — to study and to work,” Kulkarni said. “I think what we are seeing is essentially targeting a group of people that this country and our economy desperately needs in order to grow.”
She added that such policies will lead to a sharp decline in international student enrollment in colleges, whose higher tuition rates have been essential to university budgets.
While the specific reason is not yet known for why the Louisville graduates had their work visas terminated, Kulkarni added that it is “incredibly chilling” that students across the country have had their status revoked by the government “based on just interpretations of speech, without any kind of constitutional due process or without any consideration of protecting free speech rights.”
State government and politics reporting is supported in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
