At least one refugee family in Juneau has received notice from the Trump administration ordering them to leave the country immediately or face prosecution, while at least four international students at the University of Alaska Anchorage had their visas revoked, officials said April 14.

Both actions mirror nationwide targeting of foreigners who were residing legally in the United States but are now being subjected to detention, arrest and deportation for reasons including expressing views the Trump administration finds disagreeable and alleged criminal activity — although the latter allegations have not been presented in court in many instances.

Department of Homeland Security officials have acknowledged that some of the departure notices were sent in error, and legal challenges to those and many of the actions targeting students are pending.

The federal government did not provide the students or university with a specific reason for the visa cancellations, according to Jonathon Taylor, University of Alaska director of public affairs.

If there are changes to a student’s immigration status, the government is required to provide a reason, said Nicholas Olano, an Anchorage-based immigration attorney with Nations Law Group. “The question is, are the regulations being followed here? And that is what needs to be looked at carefully. Are these people giving proper notice?” he said.

Olano said usually an individual must be convicted of a crime for their immigration status to be affected, but under the Trump administration it can be for simply an arrest or allegations of misconduct. “What is happening now is by all means extreme,” he said.

Over 1,000 international students have had their visas revoked at more than 180 colleges and universities, according to a national tracking project by Inside Higher Ed.

A Latin American family in Juneau, who asked not to be identified, received a “Notice of Termination of Parole” dated April 11, declaring: “It is time for you to leave the United States” within seven days.

The New York Times reported similar notices are being sent to a large number of the 900,000 people who were allowed by the Biden administration to use an app to schedule appointments to legally cross the border and temporarily live and work in the U.S. while awaiting a hearing on their case.

“If you do not depart the United States immediately you will be subject to potential law enforcement actions that will result in your removal from the United States — unless you have otherwise obtained a lawful basis to remain here,” the April 11 notice to the Juneau family states.

“Any benefits you receive in the United States connected with your parole — such as work authorization — will also terminate. You will be subject to potential criminal prosecution, civil fines and penalties, and any other lawful options available to the federal government,” the notice adds. “Do not attempt to remain in the United States — the federal government will find you. Please depart the United States immediately.”

A federal court in San Francisco has issued a nationwide order suspending the U.S. government from demanding refugees from Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua and Haiti depart by April 24, according to Bruce Botelho, a former state attorney general and Juneau mayor, who now works with local refugees.

“The effect is basically to further terrorize and intimidate immigrants in the country to leave ‘voluntarily’ — and I put voluntarily in quotation marks because this is clearly under duress,” he said April 14. “These are the tactics of police states.”

Foreign students have also been a high-profile target of the Trump administration in recent weeks, including a legal permanent resident for a decade who was detained April 14 by immigration officials in Vermont after he helped organize pro-Palestinian demonstrations last year at Columbia University. He is not charged with a crime, but Trump officials are seeking to deport such activists anyway.

The administration’s targeting of students reached the University of Alaska’s Anchorage campus on April 14.

“This week, we learned that the federal government has revoked visas for four individuals affiliated with UAA — one current student and three recent graduates in post-graduation training — without prior notice,” University of Alaska President Pat Pitney wrote in a message to the university community.