Compiled by Speakin’ Out News, Sources: AL.com and Alabama Political Reporter
A growing number of international students and staff across Alabama universities are facing visa revocations, detentions, and threats of deportation amid an intensifying federal crackdown under the Trump administration’s immigration policies.
At Auburn University, 15 students and staff were recently informed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that their immigration visas had been revoked. University spokesperson Jennifer Adams confirmed the action but declined to identify the individuals involved, citing privacy concerns.
“Auburn’s Office of International Programs immediately contacted each affected individual to provide assistance and support,” Adams said in a public statement. “Our international students and personnel are valued members of our campus community, and we recognize the significant impact that visa or status revocation will have on them.”
The school, which had about 1,500 international students enrolled as of last fall, is continuing to monitor the situation closely, though Adams emphasized that the revocations were the result of federal action, not university decisions.
Sue Ann Balch, former assistant director of Auburn’s International Programs, criticized the political nature of the federal actions: “I believe they’ve become victims because they’re like a political ping pong ball — and this is a bipartisan problem,” she told WVTF.
Meanwhile, at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Iranian doctoral candidate Alireza Doroudi remains in ICE detention after his March arrest. Doroudi, a mechanical engineering student, has been denied bond following a ruling by immigration judge Maithe González, who claimed Doroudi failed to demonstrate he wasn’t a national security threat.
Doroudi’s attorney, David Rozas, called the decision deeply troubling. “The government has provided no evidence in the record that Mr. Doroudi poses any national security threat,” he told The Crimson White. Rozas also contested the judge’s reasoning, arguing that Doroudi is neither a flight risk nor a threat, and emphasized his strong community ties and ongoing legal visa status as reflected in ICE’s own database.
Doroudi, who had been living with his fiancée in Tuscaloosa before being transferred to a detention facility in Louisiana, has received an outpouring of support. A GoFundMe campaign for his legal expenses has raised over $25,000.
His detention comes amid a broader nationwide pattern. According to reporting by Inside Higher Ed and The Associated Press, over 1,000 international students and campus personnel across more than 160 U.S. colleges and universities have had their visas revoked in recent weeks.
Other international students facing ICE detention include Rumeysa Öztürk of Tufts University and Columbia University students Mahmoud Khalil and Mohsen Mahdawi, all of whom have been linked to pro-Palestinian advocacy and now face deportation under vaguely defined “national security” claims.
In contrast, Doroudi has no record of political activism or protest. “He has no history of protest or political activity, and yet he now faces deportation to Iran, a country where returning citizens can face persecution for even the appearance of dissent,” Rozas said.
Critics argue these detentions raise significant constitutional concerns — particularly regarding due process and freedom of speech. “Our legal system is not built on proving a negative, and yet that’s exactly what is being asked of us,” Rozas added.
The Trump administration’s actions are part of a larger push to reshape immigration policy, including attempts to eliminate birthright citizenship and ongoing defiance of court orders concerning deportation. Advocates warn the latest wave of international student detentions reflects not only a legal but a humanitarian crisis with implications for academic freedom and civil liberties.