Civil rights groups call for immediate reinstatement and protection of international students’ rights
(ATLANTA, GA, 4/11/2025) – The Georgia Chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-GA), the local chapter of the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, and Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta, today expressed grave concern and outrage following reports from international students in Georgia that their student visas have been revoked by the Department of State and their student status terminated by the Department of Homeland Security.
SEE: Visas revoked at UGA as deportation fears chill Georgia campuses
SEE: Trump appears to be targeting Muslim and ‘non-white students’ for deportation.
CAIR-Georgia Legal Director Javeria Jamil stated:
“It’s clear that the crackdown and visa revocations of international students are politically motivated and target Black, Brown, Muslim and other students of color, who the Trump Administration finds undesirable. The Department of Homeland Security should immediately reverse these illegal status terminations, and university officials, Georgia elected officials, and all Georgians, should stand firmly with international students who are being targeted.”
Advancing Justice – Atlanta Policy Director Jennifer Lee said:
“Advancing Justice – Atlanta strongly condemns this recent federal abuse of power that uses the immigration and criminal legal systems to exclude and remove individuals from the country as part of its anti-immigrant agenda. International students have long made vital contributions to Georgia, and these attacks hurt both the intellectual and economic impact of our colleges and universities.”
BACKGROUNDER:
Among those impacted are students at the University of Georgia, Kennesaw State University and Emory University. The students report that their student status was abruptly terminated without warning.
The broad attack on students evidences a continued escalation against all immigrants. These sweeping actions come in addition to the pattern of the Trump administration targeting international students for political reasons and follows the unlawful arrests and detentions of Mahmoud Khalil and Rumeysa Ozturk, the visa revocations and pursuit of Yunseo Chung and Ranjani Srinivasan by ICE agents, and the targeting of many others in colleges, workplaces and communities across the country.
CAIR-Georgia and Advancing Justice – Atlanta are working with the impacted students, campus groups and partner legal organizations to investigate the scope of the visa cancellations and to offer advocacy and legal support.
Students and community members impacted by visa revocations or related intimidation can contact CAIR-Georgia’s legal team by filling out an intake form at: cairgeorgia.org/report-incident
CAIR-Georgia’s mission is to protect civil rights, promote justice, empower American Muslims, and enhance the understanding of Islam.
Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting the civil rights of Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders (AANHPI), and other marginalized communities in Georgia and the Southeast.
END
CONTACT: Nazia Khanzada, CAIR-Georgia Communications Manager, [email protected], Azka Mahmood, CAIR-Georgia Executive Director, [email protected], James Woo, Advancing Justice-Atlanta Communications Director, [email protected]