Sen. Elizabeth “Lieawatha” Warren (D-MA) is leading a Congressional delegation to push Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, State Secretary Marco Rubio, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) acting director Todd Lyons to stop President Donald Trump’s decision to revoke foreign student visas.
Warren penned a letter to each department criticizing what they refer to as a “targeted attack” on international students. “Last week, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) attempted to terminate Harvard University’s ability to enroll international students on F-1 and J-1 visas — the latest in a string of actions targeting international students across the country,” she wrote.
MAJOR UPDATE: The Trump administration has been BLOCKED in court from kicking out Harvard’s international students.
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) May 29, 2025
This fight is about defending students and protecting America's economic advantage to attract the best and brightest from around the world. https://t.co/9F9UmnFKa6
The lawmaker claimed these actions have “been particularly damaging for Massachusetts, which is home to one of the largest concentrations of higher education institutions and hosts over 80,000 international students, who contribute almost $4 billion to the state’s economy and support over 35,000 jobs in the state.”
Warren cited DHS’ decision to revoke Harvard University’s certification in the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP), which enables schools to enroll foreign students. She characterized this policy as “punishment” for Harvard’s resistance to the administration’s demands regarding the spread of antisemitism on campus. She argued that the White House’s demand that the school turn over records related to pro-Hamas protests on campus within 72 hours as an “impossible — and arguably illegal — task.”
DHS’ moves have created widespread fear and confusion among foreign college students, the letter said. It negatively affected those who had “no obvious cause for the revocations.”
The senator concluded the letter by demanding detailed data and legal justifications for revoking student visas and ending the SEVP program.
In a press release, the lawmakers outlined their grievances against the Trump administration’s approach to international students.
This is the latest in the Trump Administration’s long pattern of attacks on international students nationwide. Starting in March, the Administration effectively terminated the legal status of over 4,700 international students across at least 48 states and 160 colleges. Often without notice to students or their universities, ICE terminated students’ records in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) — records that are “functionally equivalent to having lawful student status” — which exposed students to the “risk of arrest, detention, or removal.” The State Department also revoked many visas, adding to widespread confusion about students’ legal status.
“While DHS and the State Department claimed to target those with a criminal history or history of engaging in campus protests, some of the impacted students had neither, and in many cases, there was ‘no obvious cause for the revocations,’” wrote the lawmakers.
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