The school detained a UCLA international graduate student at the U.S.-Mexico border Thursday night and was detained by Customs and Border Protection.
According to the student who quickly organized a campus rally in her support Thursday night, whose name has not been released, was detained Wednesday night, according to the student's student's name.
“UCLA learned that an international graduate student was detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection in an attempt to enter the U.S. from Mexico,” Mary Osako, vice president of strategic communications at UCLA, said in a statement in the Times.
“Students are still detained by CBP and we are actively working to learn more. Our international students are an important part of our Bruin community and we remain fully committed to supporting their ability to learn and thrive at UCLA.”
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the CBP, was unable to comment immediately.
Few details about the student were posted, including her name and nationality. The teacher and an immigration attorney trying to contact the student have not spoken to her late Thursday. They added that the student was detained at the San Isidro border south of San Diego and was able to reach UCLA contact before being detained.
It is unclear why the student is in Mexico or what led to her detention.
Since late March, the Trump administration has abruptly cancelled more than 1,000 visas for foreign students in the United States, including more than 120 in California, and about 20 visas at UCLA. On April 4, the University of California, San Diego said an international student was also detained at the U.S.-Mexico border while trying to cross. In campus news, San Diego principal Pradeep Khosla said the student was “detained at the border, denied entry and deported to their home country.”
Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security maintained a database that affirmed the enrollment rate of foreign students at universities and had terminated the status of the same student. University staff learned about the actions after checking the database.
Visa grants international students to enter the United States, and their status in the SEVIS (Student and Exchange Visitor Information System) database is part of allowing them to obtain legal permission to allow limited on-the-job training in the United States or after graduation.
The government has not given detailed reasons for the cancellation of visas or the status of students' admission.
Last month, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the State Department was revoking visas held by tourists with opposite national interests, including some protesters against Israel’s war in Gaza and those facing unrelated criminal charges.
Lawyers for several students said they were told that the visa and Severus cancellation was due to a criminal record check, but their lawyers said some of the students’ alleged violations include minimal violations, such as speeding tickets. Immigration experts say such actions do not fit in the level of past administrations losing visas or student status, including during President Trump’s first term.
The more aggressive immigration enforcement campaign occurred last month, mainly on the Ivy League and elite campuses in the Northeast region including Columbia University, where support for pro-Palestine foreign students were arrested for deportation. Some of these students come from Arab, Muslim or South Asian backgrounds. In statements and legal documents, the Trump administration claims that students are supporters of Hamas, a designated terrorist organization in the United States, and a threat to U.S. foreign policy goals.
As far as the detained UCLA students are concerned, it is unclear whether she is involved in pro-Palestinian activism or whether her visa has been cancelled.
About 150 community members gathered at UCLA in front of Murphy Hall, which has the Prime Minister’s Office on Thursday. They held signs and read “Our Students” and pro-Palestine posters. “No ice, no KKK, no fascism, America,” the student shouted.
“We have been warning the university has been in custody for weeks,” said Graeme Blair, associate professor of political science who spoke at the rally. “We hope UCLA will stand up for their students.”
Ariela Gross, a UCLA professor of law and history, also spoke to the crowd. “We have a moral obligation…UC has a moral obligation” to defend students.
