Trump administration attack on higher education hits Alaska
We need to hear from Sens. Lisa Murkowski, Dan Sullivan and Rep. Nick Begich the Third about what they are doing to counter the Trump attack on the University of Alaska.
“This week, we learned that the federal government has revoked visas for four individuals affiliated with UAA — one current student and three recent graduates in post-graduation training — without prior notice,” UA President Pat Pitney said in a letter to staff and students.
“No students at UAF or UAS have been affected to date. Our staff are monitoring immigration records daily and are working to support impacted individuals.”
The Anchorage Daily News has the best coverage.
UA spokesman Jonathan Taylor said the university has no idea why the visas were revoked.
One of the recent graduates, Jean Kashikov of Kazakhstan, has UAA degrees in math and piloting. He intended to work for one year as a flight instructor, which was allowed under his visa, before returning home, the Daily News reported.
“Kashikov says he was not given a formal reason for the termination of his visa. He thought maybe it was because of a January 2022 incident in Scottsdale, Arizona, in which he faced misdemeanor charges of obstructing a highway, disorderly conduct and criminal trespass following what he described as an ‘argument’ with a public bus driver. The charges were dropped several months later,” the Daily News reported.
He plans to drive to Canada this week and return home.
The university and the congressional delegation need to find out immediately what happened with all of these individuals. This is vital if the university wants to retain foreign students.
It is alarming that the federal authorities did not bother to explain their actions.
This heavy-handed behavior by the Trump administration will scare, as it should, every student in Alaska who is from a foreign country.
Everyone of them will be asking why the visas were revoked and whether they might be next for saying or writing or doing something that the Trump administration deems unacceptable.
“These immigration issues do not impact a student’s academic standing at UA. Our international students and scholars are vital members of our community, and we remain fully committed to supporting their success. We’ve made additional information on international students’ rights and visa revocations available on the UA Federal Relations site and to staff at the universities who support our international students,” Pitney said.
Every international student will think about whether it is worthwhile to remain in Alaska or in the United States under the Trump administration. This will do lasting damage to the recruitment of foreign students, who will wonder just what it takes to become an enemy of the state.
Meanwhile, Pitney’s letter mentions that $3.8 million in grants have been cancelled, $1.6 million in grants have been frozen, along with the $46 million ADAC-Arctic grant.
None of this is normal. I suspect Sullivan and Begich will claim it is normal. Murkowski at least will recognize that this is an unwarranted attack on higher education.
“International students across the country are facing having their visas revoked or being detained by federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents as part of a White House–promised crackdown on so-called Hamas sympathizers on college campuses,” reported Times Higher Education.
“Miriam Feldblum, president and chief executive of the Presidents’ Alliance, told Times Higher Education that volatility, uncertainty and unpredictability have created an atmosphere in which international students—and other students and staff that do not have U.S. citizenship—feel unsafe,” the education website reported.
Feldblum said the actions nationwide “really strikes at our reputation as the premier destination for international students to come study.”
The website quoted Secretary of State Marco Rubio in March that about 300 visas had been revoked from students he referred to as “lunatics.”
As of this week, more than 180 colleges report that more than 1,000 foreign students have lost their right to be in the United States.
The graphic below does not include the four Alaska students who have had their visas revoked.
