Introducing: REVOKED?

MARCO RUBIO

I think it’s crazy — I think it’s stupid for any country in the world to welcome people into your country that are going to go to your universities as visitors — they’re visitors! And say: I’m going to your universities to start a riot. I’m going to your universities to take over a library and harass people.

COLBY

This is Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaking during a press conference last spring. March 27th, 2025. Actually one year ago, today. And he’s talking about a new thing the US government is doing to international students.

MARCO RUBIO

We gave you a visa to come and study, and get a degree. Not become a social activist that tears up our University campuses. And if we’ve given you a visa, and you decide to do that, we’re going to take it away.

...

So, we’ll revoke your visa, and once your visa is revoked, you’re illegally in the country and you have to leave. 

COLBY

Did you catch it? He said the government will revoke your visa. Revocations. The U.S. government mainly said it was revoking student visas.

So when students at my school — at Fordham University — were affected, were hit, this was how we talked about it.

STAFF MEMBER

When we found out the first student had had their visa revoked...

INTERNATIONAL STUDENT

And I saw an instagram post about a student who got their visa revoked...

INTERNATIONAL STUDENT

In the news — like, oh, students getting their visas revoked...

DOMESTIC STUDENT

Just represent the students whose visas got revoked.

PROFESSOR

Whose status was revoked...

DOMESTIC STUDENT

Visa was revoked...

COLBY

I’ve talked to so many people about this. I would probably say that most people at Fordham University — including me! — thought that student visas were being: 

COLBY, ARIANNA, & ELENA

Revoked.

COLBY

But, actually, in most cases at both Fordham and across the country, that’s not the whole story.

My name is Colby McCaskill

ELENA

I’m Elena Dimitriou

ARIANNA

I’m Arianna Pinna

COLBY

We’re independent student journalists at Fordham University. And over the past year we’ve been digging deep into the story of this visa turmoil. 

ELENA

Over the past year, we discovered that the Trump administration was doing something more than just visa revocations.

ARIANNA

Something that was even less typical, and a whole lot more confusing.

COLBY

If you want to hear what we uncovered,

ARIANNA

how this stuff wasn’t what we thought it was — 

COLBY

what it actually was —

ELENA

and how it’s still impacting Fordham even now — 

COLBY

follow this show on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. And stay tuned for our first chapter in just a few weeks. 

ELENA

This is...

ARIANNA

This is...

COLBY

This is REVOKED? Coming soon. You won’t want to miss it.