(WXYZ) — Orven Mallari is the Secretary of the Graduate Employees Organization at the University of Michigan.
"Also known as GEO. We are a labor union for graduate workers, representing over 2,000 members, and half of them are international students," said Orven.
For Orven, this is a concern because, so far, he knows of six international students who've had their student visas revoked.
"They are graduate students here who teach students who perform world-class research. And all of a sudden, a few of them are being told to flee the country, essentially," said Orven.
Other universities across Michigan are also experiencing the same. Wayne State University says four of its nearly 1,200 international students have had their visas revoked.
"So far, there hasn't been a clear pattern. Sometimes, there have been minor infractions with the law, such as a misdemeanor, a traffic ticket, or DUI. These haven't been the reasons for revoked visas before," said Orven.
Last month, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the State Department had revoked over 300 student visas nationwide.
"If you apply for a visa to enter the U.S. as a student. And you tell us the reason is not because you want to write op-eds, but because you want to participate in movements that are involved in doing things like vandalizing universities, harassing students. Taking over buildings, creating a ruckus... we are not going to give you a visa. Every time I find one of these lunatics, I take away their visa," said Rubio.
But Orven says the six international students at U of M didn't take part in organizing any protests on campus.
"We noticed a trend that they are coming from East Asia. So Korea and China," said Orven.
However, attorney Jamil Khuja, who in a separate case represents one of the U of M students charged for resisting arrest during a protest at the Diag, says the freedom of speech applies to everyone.
"The First Amendment rights are for individuals in the U.S. And it does not depend on your immigration status, what you are able to say or not say," said Khuja.
At Oakland University, Rosemary Max says one of their 800 international students recently had his visa revoked at the Windsor-Detroit border.
"We have heard in some cases that they are being notified by email. Then in other cases, they are not being notified, so my team or anybody who has access to the system is checking it on a daily basis," said Rosemary.
That system is called the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, also known as SEVIS. A portal designed post-9/11 to approve nonimmigrant and exchange student visas after an extreme vetting process and monitor their information while they maintain full-time status at their university.
"International students do not have access to the SEVIS system," said Rosemary.
When a student visa is revoked, that student is required to leave the country immediately. However, it becomes a challenge if they don't know their legal status in the country.
"If students decide to ignore that. Or overstay, they could be in a situation of being detained or potentially being barred from entering the country," said Rosemary.
According to the Association of American Universities, international students added $44 billion to the U.S. economy last academic year. Rosemary says Michigan gets around $230 million.
"For international graduate students who have the talent to make it big here, why would they want to go here if they are always at some kind of chance to be deported at any random moment," said Orven.
