Iowa State University informed a current student and a graduate on an extended student visa in April that their visas were revoked.
University spokesperson Angie Hunt told the Daily that the university could not provide the number of impacted visas because of federal privacy protections, despite dozens of universities subject to the same protections confirming that information, including the University of Iowa and the University of Northern Iowa.
The Iowa State graduate who was impacted, Hamidreza Khademi, filed a complaint against the Secretary of Homeland Security and the current acting ICE director, alleging his immigration status was unlawfully terminated, according to an order from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin on April 15.
“Individual identified in criminal records check and/or has had their VISA revoked. SEVIS record has been terminated,” the email notice from Iowa State on April 10 to Khademi stated.
The Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) is required for international students to complete their program.
Khademi is from Iran and was able to extend his student visa by working in an authorized Optional Practical Training (OPT) as an assistant project manager with Stantec at the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport after graduating from Iowa State in 2023. Without an OPT or another additional authorization, student visa holders are not allowed to work outside of the campus they attend.
He has no outstanding charges and has not been convicted of a crime, according to the order. Khademi’s only interaction with law enforcement led to an initial charge in 2024 of evading arrest in a motor vehicle in Texas. However, an investigation by the Texas Department of Public Safety found he did so unknowingly and Khademi faced no charges.
Khademi no longer met the requirements for his F-1 visa after his SEVIS record was terminated, and was advised to “cease employment immediately,” months before his wife is expected to give birth to their child.
The case was filed alongside an international student from the University of Wisconsin. However, the court found Khademi lacked connection to the venue and asked for a refiling to prove relation to Wisconsin or to move the case elsewhere.
On Friday, the case was moved to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. There had been no filings in the D.C. District Court as of the time of publication.
In Ames, a different Iowa State student was informed that their visa had been revoked, according to Graduate and Professional Student Senate (GPSS) President Wren Bouwman and President-Elect Muhammad Azhan.
The pair of GPSS presidents could not provide details about the student for privacy reasons.
A request for comment to the International Students and Scholars Office (ISSO) was redirected to Hunt, who stated in an email that the number of students affected could not be provided due to protections within the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
“As you may know, FERPA protects confidential student information and records, and prohibits Iowa State from sharing personal and private information. This includes questions related to the documented status of students,” Hunt wrote to the Daily.
Many public and private universities, which are all subject to FERPA, have provided or confirmed the number of students affected by visa status changes, including:
- University of Iowa
- University of Northern Iowa
- University of Minnesota
- University of Chicago
- Ohio State University
- University of Colorado
- Oklahoma State University
- Tulane University
- University of Utah
- Arizona State University
- Texas Tech University
- Baylor University
- University of West Virginia
- University of Pennsylvania
- University of Oregon
Hunt was sent an additional email to cite which part of FERPA prevented the university from sharing the number of students impacted on Monday afternoon. As of the time of publication, Monday evening, Hunt did not respond to the email.
On Friday, the Daily called the ISSO and was told to email questions to the interim director. In response to several questions from the Daily, including advice for affected students, Hunt responded on the director’s behalf.
“The university is aware of students who have been impacted, but for privacy reasons we cannot provide any additional detail,” the statement from Hunt said.
The only other sentence in response to the questions stated that students can check immigration updates on the ISSO website.
Azhan, a continuing graduate student in chemistry, and Bouwman, a continuing graduate student in applied linguistics and technology, recommend that international students who need help reach out to Student Legal Services, the ISSO or contact them personally.
“The only way for us to support you is if we understand the situation that you are in right now,” Azhan said. “You don’t have to go through this alone, there’s a support system that exists on campus.”
As a student-run organization, Bouwman said her role in GPSS can give students the opportunity to talk to someone like them.
“If you don’t want us to talk to admin, faculty [or] staff, then we will not,” Bouwman said. “If you need to just talk it through and talk through your options without feeling like you have to go to someone in power, we’re a great first stop.”
Bouwman can be reached at [email protected] and Azhan can be reached at [email protected].
For any impacted students, Bouwman said that “there is power in numbers” in telling others of any visa status impacts, including “just even to the GPSS executive team.”
“It’s a very private thing, and I don’t ever want to force anyone to talk about something, but if we can start to see patterns in whose visas are being revoked, that’s a huge deal, if we can advocate on mass, to admin and to Faculty Senate to help people complete their degrees,” Bouwman said.
Both Azhan and Bouwman recommend any international student who has recently interacted with police schedule an appointment with Student Legal Services, which is free for all students, before taking any action, including paying a speeding ticket.
“If you had a chance to interact [with law enforcement], don’t engage with anything, don’t plead guilty [and] reach out to the Student Legal Aid office before paying any fines because once you’ve paid a fine, that will be apart of acknowledgement to your guilt and it will be in your permanent record,” Azhan said.
The pair also recommends that international students remove themselves from political discussions or debates in person and online. In March, the State Department announced “Catch and Revoke,” a plan that uses AI to search visa holders’ social media for accounts that appear “pro-Hamas.”
“Freedom of speech is supposed to be given to all students regardless of whether you are international or not,” Azhan said.
Bouwman also called on white students, citizens and Iowa residents to “make a lot more noise.”
“Speak up for people who can’t speak up because we are in a place of privilege and these problems don’t stop being problems just because someone is trying to silence them,” Bouwman said.
