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Updates on Recent Immigration Actions

April 15, 2025

Dear Stony Brook Community,

We shared with you last week that student visas were revoked for 11 Stony Brook students, and their immigration records were terminated in the Student Exchange and Visitor Information System (SEVIS). Our top priority last week was to inform the community of this action and to assure you that our Office of Global Affairs team has been working individually with each affected student. To date, there have been no additional terminations.

Since we’ve sent that message, we have received many inquiries from our community seeking additional detail on what this action means for these students, as well as a general desire to know how to help students in these situations. We appreciate the care and concern so many in our Stony Brook community have voiced, and in this message, we will share a few additional details in response to your questions. 

First and foremost, we are taking every effort to protect the identities of each student in this situation. This limits the degree of detail we can share about individual cases, and to some extent, this group as a whole. Our affected students are not required to or expected to disclose their status to anyone, and we are upholding our responsibility to ensure their personal information remains as private as possible so they cannot be identified publicly. 

That said, we can answer general questions about how we can and do support any student whose immigration status is revoked.

Academic status
  • We will work with all impacted students to support them in completing their academic course of study.
  • The academic records of these students have not been affected and remain complete and intact. Students retain the opportunity to access their transcripts, no matter their status.
Work eligibility and financial support
  • Students whose SEVIS status is terminated are no longer able to work. Graduate tuition scholarships remain in effect but employment income is no longer allowed. This results in challenges to afford housing and other basic needs, such as food.
  • In cases where a student is in on-campus housing and has lost graduate stipend employment, Global Affairs, the Graduate School, and the Provost’s Office are partnering with Student Affairs to support their housing needs. Of note, graduate students are eligible for summer housing and have 10-month or 12-month rental options.
  • For basic needs, students can request funding from the Student Emergency Support Fund. Managed by the Student Support Team, this fund provides emergency funding to help students afford essentials including housing and food. 
  • SUNY has encouraged students to call the New York State Office for New Americans hotline at 1-800-566-7636 for referrals to free legal help and programs.
How you can help
  • Anyone can donate to the Student Emergency Support Fund. Please note, this is not a fund to support students’ legal costs, but this fund can help impacted students cover critical needs such as housing, food, and other living expenses. Donations to this fund can support these affected students as well as any other Stony Brook student in need. 
  • Any employee who is approached to provide personal information about a student’s or colleague’s status to outside law enforcement should not do so. This guidance has been in place since the beginning of the semester and continues to be our directive. Anyone who is asked to provide such information should contact University Police and/or General Counsel who can work with outside law enforcement with the primary goal of protecting students to the fullest extent possible.
  • The Office of Global Affairs team is on-call around the clock supporting students and can be easily reached at globalaffairs@stonybrook.edu to work with any faculty or staff who have questions. Do not hesitate to refer students, faculty, and staff to the Visa and Immigration Services and International Student Success offices.
  • For the latest information, you can also refer individuals to our Immigration Policy Updates page.  

Thank you for your continued support and concern for our community of international scholars.

Sincerely,

Carl Lejuez
Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost

Celia Marshik
Vice Provost for Graduate Education
Dean of the Graduate School

Lindsi Walker
Senior Associate Provost for Global Affairs