The fenced-in nature of the Rose Hill campus can often make it feel as if Fordham University exists in a bubble — a space of academic and jovial whimsy far removed from everything sociopolitical. However, this illusion of separation has caved in on itself over these past few days, as the Trump administration’s recent nationwide string of extrajudicial seizures, deportations and visa revocations has breached the iron-rod fences of Rose Hill.
To set the scene, President Tania Tetlow released a public statement last weekend announcing that one of Fordham’s own undergraduate students had become the most recent individual to see their visa suddenly revoked “without explanation and without notice.” Then yesterday, in a press conference with reporters from Fordham’s student newspapers, Tetlow revealed that a second unnamed student had their visa revoked.
Per both University Spokesperson Bob Howe and Tetlow, neither the students nor Fordham received any sort of direct notification from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that their visas had been revoked. This change to their immigration status was only discovered as a result of a recent university initiative carried out by Fordham’s Office for International Services (OIS), in which OIS is conducting daily checks of students’ visa statuses. These checks are carried out using the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) — a government portal that provides universities with up-to-date information regarding their international students’ immigration status and standing. Notably, Tetlow said that these daily checks were not routine in the past, but only began in the past week or two in light of the Trump administration’s recent immigration policy.
Additionally, Howe noted in a statement to The Ram that the first unnamed student is believed not to have participated in any sort of activities related to pro-Palestinian activism — a reason often given by federal officials as to why these visa revocations are being carried out. Beyond this, little has been announced about either situation’s specifics.
In response to these highly troubling revocations of student visas, The Fordham Ram feels it is necessary to reiterate the following:
First, the covert nature of these two visa revocations — i.e., that they were carried out both without notification or an explicitly stated cause — should remind everyone that the Trump administration’s current slew of actions against international students represents a dangerous erosion of due process. Regardless of one’s stance on President Donald Trump’s aggressive deportation policy, the reality is that American courts have held that every single migrant is entitled to due process under the Constitution. They simply have the fundamental, inalienable right to contest any charges, which need to have been formally filed in front of a neutral judicial body.
The Supreme Court reiterated this very sentiment in their recent ruling in Trump v. J. G. G. While the Court assented to the legality of the Trump administration’s recent deportation of alleged Venezuelan gang members, they nevertheless reaffirmed that every potential deportee needs to be given both prior notice of and a meaningful chance to challenge any governmental action regarding their immigration status. In the Court’s own words: “‘It is well established that the Fifth Amendment entitles aliens to due process of law’ in the context of removal proceedings … So, the detainees are entitled to notice and opportunity to be heard ‘appropriate to the nature of the case.’” Thus, this recent ruling confirms that Trump’s nationwide string of seizures, deportations and visa revocations, all without notice nor hearing, is unconstitutional in nature.
Second, the fact that two of our very own students on the receiving end of this gross misconduct should remind us all that real human beings lie at the heart of these actions. Each and every extrajudicial visa revocation, seizure and deportation does not happen in the abstract. These actions come back upon real people and their families with great and terrible violence, irrevocably uprooting the lives and dreams of individuals who came to America in pursuit of the professed ideals of our nation. We cannot allow this painful trauma to be forgotten in the larger discourse surrounding Trump’s immigration policy.
Finally, it cannot be ignored that this wave of extrajudicial immigration measures has created a pervasive and undemocratic culture of fear on college campuses across the nation. Students, faculty and staff no longer feel safe speaking out against the current presidential administration, lest they too fall victim to these drastic punishments for dissent.
The Ram has seen this fear firsthand. Even prior to these visa revocations reaching Fordham, writers looking to express political opinions sought anonymity because of concerns surrounding their safety and, in some cases, immigration status. Now, in the wake of these visa revocations, this concern has only been amplified, our fears fully realized and brought to life in a manner far more nefarious and serious than we could have ever predicted.
Of course, this culture of fear degrades the very foundation of American democracy: every individual’s First Amendment right to freedom of expression. In setting the precedent that public dissent will lead to physical removal, the Trump administration’s policies effectively encourage voices to police and silence themselves, impeding the fruitful public discourse and debate that allows this nation to be a thriving participatory democracy. The Ram, a publication aimed at fostering a democratic space where a diverse array of viewpoints can be shared and debated, simply cannot condone this intrusion into everyone’s right to free expression.
Considering all this then, The Ram unequivocally rejects these visa revocations and what they ultimately represent: an unconstitutional approach to immigration and political dissent that both needlessly perpetuates trauma and breeds an undemocratic culture of fear.