The federal government has terminated about six Georgetown University community members’ immigration statuses, according to an update posted on a university webpage April 9. 

The webpage, on the university’s International Student & Scholar Services website, says the university had not been officially notified of the terminations by the government. 

“We are aware of approximately six community members who have had their immigration status terminated,” the webpage reads. “The reasons given for such terminations are limited and Georgetown University was not informed of them by the government.”

“The Office of Global Services is continuously monitoring all F-1 and J-1 student and scholar records in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) and will reach out to impacted students and J-1 scholars to provide information and resources,” the website adds.

A university spokesperson said diverse dialogue is essential to the university’s Jesuit mission.

“Georgetown is a global research university guided by a Jesuit commitment to engage all over the world to promote the common good,” the spokesperson wrote to The Hoya. “Central to Georgetown’s mission as a Catholic and Jesuit institution and guided by Georgetown’s founding as a university for students of all faiths, Georgetown promotes interreligious understanding and dialogue among community members of all religious and non-religious backgrounds.”

The university’s update comes less than a month after federal immigration officials revoked the visa of and detained Badar Khan Suri, a Georgetown postdoctoral researcher working at the School of Foreign Service’s Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding (ACMCU), for alleged pro-Hamas speech on social media.

ACMCU Director Nader Hashemi said the university should continue to support international students. 

“Six lives have effectively been destroyed,” Hashemi told The Hoya. “I hope the university will live up to its pledges to support students in this difficult moment, particularly international students who’ve been affected.” 

“I think the university’s statements and the communication has been very good so far,” Hashemi added. “I think most faculty and students are basically happy with what the university has been doing, and I hope the university will continue to support students who have been unjustly and illegally targeted by this authoritarian regime that’s empowered now in Washington.”

Nico Cefalu (CAS ’27), president of Georgetown’s chapter of the legal advocacy nonprofit American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), said the Georgetown community should come together in support of those whose visas have been terminated.

“I think the university should obviously try to fight this as much as they can and support these students,” Cefalu told The Hoya. “And I think we as students, once we figure out who these people are, we need to offer them support, and maybe we should plan a protest or something, because this is getting ridiculous.”

“It’s just going to keep escalating,” Cefalu added. “They’re just going to keep extending who they try to kick out of universities.”

GUSA Vice President Darius Wagner (CAS ’27) said students must show support for one another through precarious times.

“It’s truly a really grave time when friends that you know or peers that you know, peers that you share the classroom with, can literally have their whole life changed for simply engaging in debate, posting on social media, using their free speech that they’re allotted as students in this country,” Wagner told The Hoya. “It’s just a really scary time. And I know that in the future, that through further collective action, we can ensure the safety and community of our fellow Hoyas.”

Hashemi said the Georgetown community cannot be complacent in light of the visa terminations.

“The worst thing you can do is pretend, ‘Well, this doesn’t affect me. I’m not interested in the Israel-Palestine conflict. This is a passing moment,’” Hashemi said. “It’s not a passing moment. It’s a straight transition toward authoritarianism.”

This story is developing and more information will be added as it becomes available.