The University of Arizona’s chief safety officer says UA officials are not aware of any federal law enforcement activity involving students, faculty or staff on campus, as rumors of ICE visits swirl in the community.
“Anyone with concerns about suspicious or criminal activity should contact the University of Arizona Police Department, while students experiencing stress or facing difficult circumstances are encouraged to reach out to the Dean of Students Office for support,” Steve Patterson, a UA vice president and chief safety officer with the university’s Office of Public Safety, said Friday. “We care deeply about the safety and wellbeing of our campus community.”
Patterson’s statement was in response to the Arizona Daily Star asking about a surge of rumors at the UA Thursday and Friday about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or ICE agents being on campus.
The rumors come a day after Arizona State University said at least eight international students there had their student visas revoked; a Tucson immigration attorney said he had heard of 12 at ASU. The students also had their status in the “Student and Exchange Visitor Information System” database removed, making them vulnerable to deportation, detention and arrest by federal immigration authorities.
Michael Kintscher, the president of United Campus Workers Arizona, told the Star Thursday that while the organization had heard nothing about student visa revocations at the UA or Northern Arizona University, they couldn't confirm that none had happened.
While ASU confirmed the number of student visa revocations, as did the University of Colorado and Colorado State University about their campuses, UA spokesperson Zak and Vice President of Communications Steve Voeller said the UA leadership team has made a “university decision” to not disclose this information. Voeller was responding to an email sent Thursday by the Star to UA President Suresh Garimella.
Voeller said the decision was based on "privacy issues" of the students, even though the Star was asking only for a number of any student visa revokations and not any personal identifiers of the students themselves.
Zak also didn’t say yes when asked if UA international students would internally be told a number of student visa revocations if they asked International Student Services. "University staff would handle that appropriately," Zak said, without explaining how.
UA officials put out a communication to international students, faculty and scholars Monday asking them to keep their passports; I-94s, which are issued to non-immigrant visitors entering the U.S.; and proof of statuses on them at all times. It also advised them to be aware that it is legal for immigration officials to inspect their devices and social media.
According to Mo Goldman, a Tucson immigration attorney, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s rapid termination in national examples of foreign-student status is “unprecedented.” As international students increasingly come under attack, in Goldman's words, universities whose budgets rely on those populations are in a tough spot, he said.
The latest annual numbers show the UA received $68 million in net tuition revenue from international students, Zak said, quoting UA’s Chief Financial Officer John Arnold.
According to an analysis from NAFSA: Association of International Educators, 1.1 million international students contributed $43.8 billion to the U.S. economy during the 2023-2024 academic year and supported more than 378,000 jobs.
Kintscher said the atmosphere at ASU among international students is one of fear, and that students who were quietly trying to complete their studies and contribute to the university's research were waking up unsure if they had a future on campus at the end of the day.
"I have seen students change their travel plans, cancel trips to academic conferences abroad for fear of being detained upon attempting to reenter the US despite having a legal and valid visa. I have friends and colleagues who have recounted waking up from nightmares in which they were detained and held indefinitely," said Kintscher.
"We can confirm that at least some students have been detained by CBP (Customs and Border Protection) but were then later released. We have also confirmed at least one student has been detained by ICE," he said. "The majority of the students, however, have simply received a letter from the US Consulate of their respective home countries. To be clear, there have been no ICE raids or anything of that nature on campus to the best of our knowledge."
Kintscher shared a website of the workers organization, which he said would be kept regularly updated. ASU "has offered free legal consultation to students whose visas have been revoked, but beyond that has not offered any additional support for the mental health and wellbeing of the broader community this situation has impacted," he said.
Students walk on the mall near Old Main on the campus of the University of Arizona.
