An email from Penn Global's International Student & Scholar Services discussed recent federal changes with regards to visas.
Credit: Borna SaeedniaPenn’s International Student and Scholar Services is “not aware” of any University student or faculty member who has been impacted by recent visa revocations from the United States Department of State, according to a Tuesday email.
The April 1 message comes a week after Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters that the State Department revoked over 300 student visas, including ones that belonged to students who participated in pro-Palestinian activism on college campuses. The ISSS email also advised Penn community members on how to respond in the event they are contacted by governmental officials.
"ISSS is not aware of ANY Penn student or scholar who has had their visa revoked or been affected by a 'self-deport' alert," Vice Provost for Global Initiatives Ezekiel Emanuel and Associate Vice Provost for Global Initiatives Amy Gadsden wrote in the email.
“We are in communication with government officials to convey how unsettling these policies are for our community,” the administrators wrote.
The email also stated that ISSS contacted the State Department for clarification on the revocation of visas but were referred to past media statements, "which do not confirm the number of visas revoked or provide specific reasons for the revocations."
Emanuel and Gadsden also wrote that the government has not issued any current official travel bans.
In March, ISSS sent an email advising international students to avoid “non-essential” travel to several countries ahead of a possible new federal travel ban.
ISSS stated in the March email that the countries likely to be affected by the travel ban, which may be introduced as early as next week, are Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen. ISSS strongly advises students who are citizens of one of the listed countries to avoid “non-essential travel outside of the United States” until more details are available.
A State Department spokesperson previously told The Daily Pennsylvanian that the Department has “broad authority to revoke visas” under the Immigration and Nationality Act.
“We exercise that authority when information comes to light indicating that a visa holder may no longer be eligible for a visa,” the spokesperson wrote to the DP. “As the Secretary indicated, the Department revokes visas every day in order to secure America’s borders and keep our communities safe -- and will continue to do so.”
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