After several high-profile arrests of foreign nationals attending college in New York, Alabama and, now, Massachusetts, students at Pittsburgh universities wonder if it’s only a matter of time before federal immigration agents target their campuses.

Spokespeople for the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University said Thursday they weren’t aware of any on-campus Immigration and Customs Enforcement activity.

At least among Pitt students, though, social media-fueled rumors are swirling.

Lauren Porter, 19, said she’s heard “ICE is coming to campus next week or soon,” and Ziggy Khu, 22, reported seeing similar information circulate. There is no indication from authorities this is the case, but concern runs high after Tufts University doctoral student and Turkish national Rumeysa Ozturk, 30, was detained without explanation by six masked agents outside her off-campus apartment in Somerville, Mass.

The incident echoed the recent arrests of Mahmoud Khalil, a recent Columbia University graduate and leader of pro-Palestinian campus demonstrations who has permanent residency, and Alireza Doroudi, a doctoral student and Iranian citizen attending the University of Alabama.

Together, they suggest legal status or criminal record has little to do with some of President Donald Trump’s immigration directives.

A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson confirmed Ozturk’s detention and the termination of her visa for allegedly engaging in “activities in support of Hamas,” the Associated Press reported. No evidence has been provided, though Ozturk co-wrote an op-ed in the The Tufts Daily criticizing the university’s response to student demands that it “acknowledge the Palestinian genocide” and divest from companies with direct or indirect ties to Israel.

“It’s such an outrage,” said Carnegie Mellon student Alice Kang, 20. “It’s even crazier ICE is doing it in such a terrorizing and unprofessional manner.”

She added: “I wouldn’t be surprised if it happened here.”

Carnegie Mellon student Yiming Li, 21, is in the U.S. from China on a student visa. The university was one of six that recently received letters from the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party requesting information on international students and possible collaborations it has with China-based universities and research institutions.

He said stories like the Tufts incident make him think twice about what he says or does, even if it’s within the bounds of the First Amendment.

“I’m sad to hear people getting their visas revoked for practicing political speech,” Li said. “That’s why I try to not get into trouble.”

Of Pittsburgh universities, Carnegie Mellon has the largest proportion of international students at 39%. In a statement to TribLive, the university advised these students to make sure their immigration paperwork is in order, up to date and kept in a safe place.

Carnegie Mellon’s Office of International Education also works with students and visiting scholars to ensure their immigration status is current.

At Point Park University, a group of students are pushing administration to ban ICE from entering campus without a warrant, refuse to give student information to the agency and block campus police from cooperating with immigration enforcement activities unless legally compelled. A petition spelling out the demands had garnered more than 220 signatures as of Thursday afternoon.

When apparently politically motivated immigration arrests have happened across the country, the American Civil Liberties Union has generally stepped in. The group’s Massachusetts chapter secured an order Tuesday from a federal judge barring the government from removing Ozturk from the state.

Records from ICE show she’s being held in Louisiana.

If one of these incidents happened in Pennsylvania, according Vic Walczak, legal counsel for the state’s ACLU chapter, the organization would likely pursue similar legal action. There’s little else, in his view, that can be done to prevent the detentions.

“It’s pretty clear they’re being picked up not because they’re criminal or because they’re undocumented or have lost immigration status, but purely because the government doesn’t like what they said,” Walczak said. “And if there’s any cardinal rule under the First Amendment, you cannot punish somebody because you don’t like what they say.”

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