COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — At Ohio State University, at least a dozen international students have had their visas revoked, joining several hundred more across the state and country. 

“It’s been isolating, it’s been scary, I’ve been paranoid,” international Ohio State student Ahwar Sultan said. 

Sultan is from India and is in the middle of his master’s program, but two weeks ago, he got notice that his visa was revoked and he had to stop going to class. 

“I don’t know where I stand with the state right now and I don’t think the state knows either,” he said. 

Sultan believes his visa revocation is retaliation for his participation in a pro-Palestinian protest in April 2024. He was arrested and detained during that protest, but the charges were later dismissed, and his record was expunged, according to his lawyer, Jana Al-Akhras.    

Sultan said that when he received the email two weeks ago with his updated status, it offered little explanation. 

“It was somewhere along the lines of my name coming up in a criminal records check and/or I failed to maintain my status, and/or my visa was revoked, and all of those seem really implausible,” he said. 

Sultan fears deportation and said Ohio State is failing him and other international students.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the university said all affected students are being offered support, resources, and legal advice is available upon request. 

“Caring for our students is the university’s highest priority,” the spokesperson wrote. 

As Sultan and dozens of other international students in Ohio work through this, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine offered little direct comment. 

“It’s still not clear to me who all is losing their visas,” DeWine said. “Without knowing the particular details, I don’t have a comment.”  

DeWine said he thinks students have a place on Ohio’s campuses, but said it is not that straightforward. 

“The other side of that is, with a state university, they very well may be taking the place of an Ohio student,” DeWine said. “So, this is a constant discussion that we have about who should be going to Ohio schools.” 

“That’s ludicrous,” Al-Akhras said. “The history of having international students on our campuses is a long one and now is not the time to be ‘othering’ our students.” 

DeWine said he does not think the process for international students can be ironed out quite yet. 

“The fact that border has not been secure is why we’ve not been able to have a discussion in this country, a thorough discussion, about who we want to come here and who we don’t want to come here, how we want to deal with college students who are coming here,” DeWine said. “These are all questions that, frankly, are not going to get answered in a real satisfactory way until I think the people of this country have confidence that we have control of the southern border.”