Hundreds of students in the U.S. have received emails from the U.S. Department of State (DOS) asking them to self-deport. These students have been asked to leave with the DOS revoking their F-1 student visas, claiming they have been involved in protests or online activity deemed “anti-national.”
This crackdown, led by Marc Rubio, has targeted students not only for physical participation in protests, but also for online activity seen as critical of U.S. policies. Students have reportedly been targeted for as much as “liking” certain social media posts. About 331,000 Indian students — part of the 1.1 million international students currently in the U.S., according to 2023-2024 numbers — are among those targeted.
READ: F-1 visa rejection for Indian students surges to highest in a decade (March 27, 2025)
Senior state department officials have told Axios that an AI-powered app called “Catch and Revoke” has been used by the State Department to identify and revoke the visas of foreign nationals who appear to support Hamas and other designated terrorist groups. Alongside canceling existing visas, consular officials are now scrutinizing new applications for F (academic), M (vocational), and J (exchange), denying them to individuals associated with similar activities.
Reports also state that students received emails from the Bureau of Consular Affairs Visa Office, informing them of revocations under Section 221(i) of the Immigration and Nationality Act. The email instructs students to self-deport using the U.S. Customs and Border Protection or CBP Home App, launched by the Trump administration on March 10, and warns that remaining in the U.S. without legal status can lead to fines, detention, or deportation.
The email also mentioned that deportation could occur abruptly, and to countries other than the student’s homeland, and it could bar the student from obtaining future U.S. visas. Rubio stated that a U.S. visa was not “a birthright,” and anyone violating the terms of visitation will have to leave the country.
According to Washington D.C.-based immigration attorney Johnson Myalil, students traveling should be prepared in-depth questioning by CBP officers at the port of entry as well as secondary inspection and phone search in some cases, and seek legal advice before pursuing any travels plans.
READ: F-1 students at U.S. ports of entry: What you need to know (March 31, 2025)
While the administration claims it is following the law and accused some of the students detained of showing support for Hamas and participating in movements that are “creating a ruckus,” according to Rubio, others have criticized this move as a violation of free speech rights.
The AI-assisted review of tens of thousands of student visa-holders’ social media accounts in particular, is seen as a dramatic escalation in the U.S. government’s policing of foreign nationals’ conduct and speech.