This is a developing story, and we'll share more details as we're able to confirm them.
Two people affiliated with Dartmouth College recently had their Student and Exchange Visitor Program records terminated, part of a wave of reported across the country.
The is designed primarily to monitor people who come to the United States primarily for academic purposes. The loss of that status means those people can no longer work as research assistants or pursue their graduate work.
Dartmouth spokesperson Jana Barnello said the federal government did not notify the school about the changes; rather, 鈥渢hey were discovered by Dartmouth staff during a proactive check of the [Student and Exchange Visitor Program] database.鈥� Barnello said the school is "proactively checking" that database several times a day.
鈥淒artmouth is in direct contact with the two affected individuals, and, more broadly, is committed to helping impacted community members connect with legal and support resources,鈥� Barnello said in an email.
Citing privacy reasons, Barnello said Dartmouth isn't able to share more details about the people affected.
One of the people affected at Dartmouth is a 26-year-old doctoral student studying computer science, according to who have taken up his case. Xiaotian Liu, a Chinese citizen, had not committed any crimes, or even a traffic violation, according to attorneys with the ACLU of New Hampshire and Shaheen & Gordon, who are suing the federal government on his behalf.
Attorneys say the student wasn't given any reason for the termination. They also note that the university had little information about the revocation and administrators said it was "not standard or normal procedure."
According to the student's lawyers, to terminate student status for an F-1 visa holder, the student must fail to take full courses of study, engage in unauthorized employment or be convicted of a violent crime.
A spokesperson for the University of New Hampshire said the school is not aware of anyone on its campuses who have been affected, but they are monitoring the situation.
NHPR's Olivia Richardson contributed reporting.
