Student visas for five international students at Minnesota State University, Mankato, have been terminated by the Department of Homeland Security, according to the school’s president, Edward Inch, in a letter to the campus.

Inch states that neither the students nor the University had been notified of the change or had received any requests for information. Staff in the school’s Global Education department saw the changes while running a status check.

A Minnesota State University Mankato student asked 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS not to show her face on camera because of concerns about retaliation.

“It’s really terrifying,” the MSU sophomore student, who did not want to be identified, said. “You never know who’s going to be watching the TV right now, like ICE or the federal government. You never know.”

She has plans to travel back to her home country for medical treatment, but said she’s hesitant.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen when I try to come back in the airport. So stressful,” she said.

University officials explained that the student visa revocations are affecting everyone on campus.

“We were concerned for their well being, concerned for their safety,” Will Coghill-Behrends, MSU Mankato dean of global education, said. “We have a really large international student population here on campus. In fact, we’ve won awards because of the size of our international student population.”

He oversees nearly 1800 international students from over 108 different countries around the world.

He explained they’re holding a meeting with international partners on Friday to discuss the recent events and keeping the students safe.

“I think it’s important for people to know and to understand that immigration to the U.S. via a student exchange or student study program is complex,” Coghill-Behrends said. “It’s not easy to get a visa to study in the U.S. They go through a very complicated vetting process.”

Noel Nyakundi, an MSU freshman, is from Kenya and is studying computer science.

He’s choosing to move forward with positivity.

“I feel things like this can shake up the community and can make people start questioning a lot of things,” he said. “Just being relaxed and understanding that even this thing will pass. We’ll succeed. We’ll be fine.”

Inch’s letter also states that the University is monitoring the situation for its international employees as well.

Staff members are connecting affected students and employees with resources and referrals to immigration employees.

“These are troubling times, and this situation is unlike any we have navigated before,” the letter reads, in part. “I am asking for your help. These are difficult situations with many folks working diligently to respond to inquiries, support one another and our students, and advocate where possible. I ask all of you to please be sensitive to the fact that most information about the students cannot be shared due to student privacy laws. Speculation and sharing rumors is not helpful and causes additional distress and confusion.”

5 EYEWITNESS NEWS reached out to the U.S. Attorney’s office for more information regarding the five international students who allegedly had their visas revoked. They referred us to the Department of Justice in Washington, who has not responded as of Thursday at 7 p.m.

5 EYEWITNESS NEWS has reached out to DHS for additional information and a comment and will update this article when a response is received.