The Trump administration targets international students’ student visas and permanent residents who hold green cards as part of their immigration crackdown.
While green card holders may remain in the U.S. indefinitely and are protected by U.S. law, the Trump administration has made it clear that the population does not limit its mass occupation agenda.
Can the federal government bring those who are green card holders and legally in the United States?
Yes. According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, green card holders can only be protected “only taking any action that makes you move under immigration laws.”
Green card holders “requires compliance with all laws in the United States and locality” and apply for taxes annually if they are males between 18 and 25 years of age, and register for the draft and “expectedly support the democratic form of government”, “U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.”
Green card holders may face deportation if they violate certain provisions included in the Immigration and Nationality Act.
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People show signs on Mayday in March and are authorized by Immigration Connexión, the Community Response Network and the Oklahoma chapter of Lulak Oklahoma, from the Lower Scissortail Park to the Love's Travel Stop stage in the Upper Park on Sunday, May 4, 2025. (Doug Hoke/Oklahoma/US Network Today via Imagen Images)
According to the Berardi Emigration Law, reasons why green card holders can be deported include terminating a conditional permanent resident status and intentionally helping someone illegally enter the United States for crimes including rape, murder or fraud, a corporate immigration law firm that handles work permits and green cards for international employees in the United States.
Other reasons include felony convictions for drug or gun crimes and engaging in criminal activities that endanger public safety or national security issues, which endanger public safety or national security issues under the Berardi Immigration Act.
Additionally, those facing convictions for these crimes can only face deportation after an immigration judge hears the case, according to the Pennsylvania Legislative School.
A green card allows the United States to stay in the country that is no longer a U.S. citizen, while a student visa allows people outside the United States to study at an academic institution for a specific time in the country.
There are several ways to get a green card eligibility, including being a direct family member of a U.S. citizen like a spouse or parent, finding a job in the U.S., or becoming a refugee or seeking asylum.
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The possibility of deporting green card holders has increased scrutiny after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested anti-Israeli activist Mahmoud Khalil. (Selcuk acar/anadolu via Getty image)
The possibility of deportation of green card holders is increasingly scrutinized after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents arrested anti-Israeli activist Mahmoud Khalil in March. Khalil, a Palestinian who grew up in Syria and a permanent resident of a green card, first came to the United States on a student visa in 2022, and played a major role in protesting against Israel while he was a graduate student at Columbia University.
The Department of Homeland Security said Khalil was arrested to protect U.S. national security and claimed Khalil "led an activity consistent with the designated terrorist organization Hamas."
In addition, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that any Hamas supporter in the United States at that time would suffer a similar fate and pull its green card and face deportation.
Similarly, President Donald Trump said in a social media post in March after Khalil's arrest that this was "the first arrest for many people in the future."
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But Democrats claim that the Trump administration is out of place and arrest It is an attack on freedom of speech. Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats said Khalil's arrest constituted "righteous authoritarianism" in a post published on March X.
An immigration judge in Louisiana ruled in April that the Trump administration freely deported Khalil, claiming she had no right to question the Trump administration's assessment of the national security threat to Khalil.
But Khalil, currently stuck at the Central Louisiana ice processing center, has not seen whether he will face deportation. Another federal judge in New York prevented the Trump administration from evacuating Khalil from the United States when his case aired in court.
In addition, the Trump administration is also focusing on strengthening review of student visas, especially those who openly support Khalil's public support for Palestine.
For example, the State Council is also preparing for strengthening social media screening for those applying for student visas. The State Department announced Tuesday that it will temporarily suspend new student and exchange visitor visa interviews as it evaluates enhanced social media screening in the application process.
Experts say Congress has the right to act by visa holders.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio testified at a Senate diplomatic relations hearing to review the president's proposed budget request for the 2026 Treasury Department on Tuesday, May 20, 2026 at Capitol Hill, Washington. (Jose Luis Magana/AP)
Rubio told lawmakers on May 20 that he hoped that the State Department had canceled thousands of visas since one month after Trump took office. This is the 300 that the government revoked by late March.
Rubio also said his agency would continue to revoke student visas and said that visas are not rights but "privileges."
"I don't know the latest charges, but we may have more work to do," Rubio told the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Foreign Affairs. "We will continue to revoke visas for people who are here as guests and destroy our higher education facilities."