At least 14 international students at Penn State have recently had their visas revoked, in what appears to be part of a broader shift in enforcement under President Donald Trump.
Centre County District Attorney Bernie Cantorna said in an email that retail theft was the charge against 12 of the students, the charge in one case was possession of a small amount of marijuana and DUI in another.
Cantorna said none of the students had prior criminal convictions and none had been convicted of a crime. Instead they had been placed in diversion programs.
"These are not cases of serious criminal activity and the consequences are disproportional to the alleged conduct, particularly when there are no convictions," he said.
Cantorna said many of the students have returned to their home countries. It comes as international students at other universities in Pennsylvania and across the country have had their visas revoked. Cantorna said the 14 cases have been over the last few weeks and do “not represent the total number of cases.”
The university has declined to say how many of its international students are being affected by the Trump administration's tightened enforcement.
