Collection of flags from various countries in the Multicultural Student Services office. Photo by Alex Luangasa.
On April 14, University of Alaska President Pat Pitney sent an email to the UA community stating that four individuals affiliated with UAA had their student visas revoked by the federal government.
One of those four individuals was Jean Kashikov. On April 10, he received a notification about his visa status from International Student Services. The email wrote that his record was marked as “terminated” by the Student and Exchange Visitor Program, or SEVP.
SEVP tracks and monitors schools, exchange visitor programs, and F, M and J visa-receiving nonimmigrants during their enrollment in education and stay in the United States.
F-category visa allows study at an accredited college or university, whereas M-category for vocational training, lastly J-category are for individuals to participate in work or study exchange programs.
The Department of Homeland Security maintains this information using the web-based system, the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, or SEVIS, according to the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE website. SEVIS also provides a mechanism for student and exchange visitor status violators to be identified so that appropriate enforcement is taken, according to the ICE website.
In an interview with The Northern Light, Kashikov said he had three charges filed against him three years ago while in another state. He said there was no conviction and the judge dismissed all charges.
Kashikov’s statement about his prior charges correlates with students in other states whose visas have allegedly been revoked due to traffic stops and dismissed cases.
Students who have publicly voiced their political concerns on the Israel-Hamas conflict are also being targeted. Examples include students like Rümeysa Öztürk who wrote an op-ed at Tufts and Mahmoud Khalil who was a lead negotiator during the Gaza Solidarity Encampment protest at Columbia.
They called on their respective universities to divest from companies with direct or indirect ties to Israel, according to the BBC.
On Jan. 25, President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 14188, titled “Additional Measures to Combat Anti-Semitism.” It reaffirmed the previous Executive Order 13899 to “ensure robust enforcement of Title VI” by adopting the working definition of anti-Semitism by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance — or IHRA.
Executive Order 14188 cites the increase in antisemitism post Oct. 7, 2023, to use all available and appropriate legal tools to prosecute perpetrators of antisemitic behavior.
It also calls for a review of all court cases against or involving higher education institutions post-Oct 7, examination of Title VI cases in K-12 education related to antisemitism, and recommendations for higher education institutions to understand the grounds for inadmissibility under Title 8, section 1182, to monitor and report activities by foreign students and staff.
A fact sheet published by the White House called for the removal of resident noncitizens who violate federal, state and local laws. The document also states that the federal government will “deport Hamas sympathizers and revoke student visas.”
Kashikov said he had never made public political statements prior to termination of his visa. He began going public with his story to media outlets after his visa was revoked.
Kashikov said he felt depressed about having his visa revoked and unsure of what to do.
The ACLU of Alaska has since filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security to protect Kashikov’s due process rights.
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The Northern Light editor Murat Demir contributed to this report.
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