Student visas

A crackdown on foreign students is alarming colleges, who say the Trump administration is using new tactics and vague justifications to push some students out of the country. College officials worry the new approach will keep foreigners from wanting to study in the U.S. This Tuesday marks two weeks since the arrest of an University of Alabama doctoral candidate.

Supporters of an Iranian University of Alabama student are speaking out with their dollars. A now closed GoFundMe site includes close to twenty six thousand dollars for the legal defense of Alireza Doroudi. Donors sent amounts ranging from five to three hundred dollars. It’s been just over a week since ICE agents arrested the engineering doctoral candidate.

Both the University of Alabama and federal immigration officials confirm that an Iranian UA doctoral student is in ICE custody, but few details are being made available. Alabama Public Radio was contacted by classmates of the student, identified in published reports as Alireza Doroudi, was detained by ICE agents this week. The student's F-1 student had reportedly been revoked. However, the reasons behind Doroudi’s arrest remain unclear. It’s just the latest student to be detained by the Trump administration.