BLACKSBURG, Va. – UPDATE:
Virginia Tech announced that the international students who had their records in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System terminated have had their visas restored.
In a university update released on Friday, Virginia Tech said that the students and alumni were in the process of getting their records recovered. On Tuesday, the university confirmed their status was restored and they are able to return to school.
ORIGINAL STORY:
This week, seven international students from Virginia Tech and two alumni had their visas revoked.
“It just seems like even the university itself doesn’t really know what’s going on, and that in itself is really scary because that just means at a federal level that the communication has been so poor,” said Andrew Sutherland, a junior.
In a letter from Virginia Tech President Tim Sands, the students were informed that their Student and Exchange Visitor Information Records had been revoked and terminated, meaning they must leave the U.S. immediately.
“The international community is a big part of the Virginia Tech community,” said Mark Owczarski, Virginia Tech spokesperson. “We have just over 4,000 international students.”
Owczarski explained they are doing what they can to help the affected families.
“We immediately reach out to those students affected to find out what their situation is, to provide whatever support and logistics that we can in a given situation, which, as you can imagine, would be very sudden and very troubling,” he said.
On campus, I spoke to students to hear their thoughts.
“Initially, you’re just like, ‘Why?‘” said freshman Julia Parkerson. “It’s scary. When you have friends that come from different countries and are here on a visa, it’s just like, ‘Well, don’t take them away,’ and it just kind of creates that fear for them.”
On April 18, the university will hold an online information session to answer any questions and concerns.
Owczarski said the university is committed to supporting the international community at Virginia Tech.
“It’s a landscape we have to navigate together,” he said.