A Resolution Statement from the University of Arkansas Workers Union
The board of UA-Fayetteville Education Association/Local 965 condemns in the strongest possible terms the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s decision the week of April 11, 2025, to revoke the visas of five of our international graduate students without due process. (NW Arkansas Democrat-Gazette article and alternate link)
Since the founding of the republic, the right to due process has been the cornerstone of the American system of justice. The founders, ever vigilant to the possibility of tyranny, added the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution to protect individuals against the abuses of what they feared could become arbitrary and abusive use of state power: “No person shall be … deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.” The language cannot be more clear — the amendment’s protections apply to all persons, including the international students, and not just citizens. But the students who have had their visas revoked have not been afforded due process — they haven’t heard the accusations made against them, they haven’t seen the evidence that prompted the government’s action, and they haven’t been given the opportunity to defend themselves in front of a judge.
In justifying the revocations of more than 300 international student visas on campuses across the nation, Secretary of State Marco Rubio asserted in late March, “I think it’s crazy — I think it’s stupid for any country in the world to welcome people into their country that are going to go to their 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. I don’t care what movement you’re involved in. Why would any country in the world allow people to come and disrupt? We gave you a visa to come and study and get a degree, not become a social activist that tears up our campus.”
This explanation does not make sense as it pertains to the five international students here at the University of Arkansas. Those familiar with the goings on around the UA flagship campus know that no one has taken over the library or harassed people or torn up campus. These sorts of acts are just not happening at the University of Arkansas — nor at many other places where students have had their visas revoked.
If the State and Homeland Security departments believe that a certain international student has committed a crime and wants to revoke their visa, they must follow the Constitution of the United States. The federal government needs to articulate the alleged crime, present evidence to support the charge, give the student the opportunity to present evidence in defense, and have all the evidence heard by an impartial judge. That is the American way.
The resolution was drafted by UA Associate Professor of History Michael C. Pierce, who wrote a corresponding guest column published April 15, 2025, in the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, “UA Students Deprived of Rights,” (alternate link). Pierce is a member of the Executive Board of Local 965.
Following up on the resolution Rogers station KHBS-TV/KHOG-TV interviewed Professor Pierce in a 2:03 report “University of Arkansas Professor Speaks Out about Revocation of Student Visas” on April 15, 2025.
The website of Fort Smith station KFSM-TV posted “University of Arkansas Workers’ Union Condemns Visa Revocations of International Students” on April 15, 2025.
Analysis cites this resolution and quotes Professor Pierce: “The Trump Administration Comes for U of A Students, and the U of A Stays Silent,” Arkansas Times, April 18,2025.
“2 University of Arkansas Students Regain Visa Status after DHS Termination,” Fayetteville stations KNWA-TV/KFTA-TV, April 25, 2025.
“UA Confirms Five Students’ Visas Restored: Status Terminations Bring Rise in Worries over Deportations,” (alternate link), Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Friday, May 2, 2025
UA-Fayetteville Education Association 