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Gov. Mike DeWine is unsure why Ohio student visas were pulled but says there’s more to discuss on the issue

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (Statehouse News Bureau) — Sixty-two international student visas at 15 Ohio colleges were revoked by the federal government, and those schools have said they weren’t told in advance about the revocation of visas or the reasons why.

Gov. Mike DeWine talks to reporters after an event at a central Ohio elementary school.
Gov. Mike DeWine talks to reporters after an event at a central Ohio elementary school on April 7, 2025. [Karen Kasler | Statehouse News Bureau]
Gov. Mike DeWine said he also wasn’t advised or given an explanation by federal authorities as to what was happening in those cases. But he also said there’s a bigger question here when it comes to international students, particularly those who attend public colleges.

“They contribute to culture, contribute to other students understanding what goes on in different places of the world where they are from. The other side of that is, with a state university, they very well may be taking the place of an Ohio student,” DeWine said.

DeWine blamed an insecure U.S. southern border for the reason why that conversation hasn’t taken place.

“The fact that the border (southern) has not be secure is why we have not been able to have a discussion in this country about who we want to come here and who we do not want to come here,” DeWine said.

That’s similar to what DeWine said in March when asked about President Trump’s comments that he was considering revoking temporary protected status for Ukrainians in the U.S. DeWine has also praised Trump’s handling of the U.S. southern border when asked about temporary protected status for Haitians, which will end in August. But DeWine has also said that businesses that have hired thousands of legal Haitian immigrants in Springfield will suffer with mass deportations.