An annual Department of Homeland Security audit at CSUMB ignites student fears.

A federal audit focused on program compliance for student visas took place on campus at CSU Monterey Bay on Monday, Jan. 26. An email was sent at 10:45am to students notifying them that a representative from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) was present for an audit beginning at 10:30am today.

A subsequent email sent at 2:45pm notified students the audit and visit were concluded in under an hour.

"The visit focused on ensuring the university is in compliance with current regulations, SEVP policies, guidance and procedures, and is a routine annual visit that is conducted at all universities that host F-1 international students," according to the campuswide email, signed by Nizhoni Chow-Garcia, the associate vice president for community and belonging, and Yvonne Gordon, interim associate vice president for public safety and chief of police.

"The visit allows us to maintain our international programs that host students from around the world. The routine visit did not include any immigration enforcement action and concluded in less than an hour, with the representative departing campus."

An F-1 academic visa is for students enrolled in degree programs and limits their ability to work in the United States. In fall 2025, 108 international students were enrolled at CSUMB, according to a spokesperson. 

Such audits are generally conducted annually and the last SEVP audit at CSUMB was conducted in early 2025. (Questions to ICE, which houses SEVP, about the audit and its findings were not immediately answered.)

The California SAFE Act (Senate Bill 98) was signed into law in 2025 and requires requires schools and universities to notify members of the campus community when federal immigration is on campus for both routine compliance visits and immigration enforcement actions. 

Although this event was a routine audit conducted by one person in under an hour, the broader climate of immigration enforcement actions spurred multiple students to leave campus out of fear, according to Adriana Melgoza, executive director of the Watsonville Law Center and a volunteer with the Solidarity Network, a rapid response group that deploys trained legal observers to suspected ICE activity. 

"Community members are on high alert," Melgoza says. "We got several calls not just from the students, but also their parents. They were concerned. Many people don’t understand how audits work." 

She says the Solidarity Network deployed several observers to campus, who observed nothing unusual. 

Melgoza adds that the timing of the notification—as the audit was scheduled to begin—was troubling to some students she heard from. 

A CSUMB spokesperson says the notification was made in compliance with the law after scheduling with SEVP. 

"The safety, well-being and sense of belonging of our students, faculty and staff remain our highest priority," the CSUMB spokesperson adds in an email. "We are deeply committed to cultivating a campus environment grounded in inclusion, access to affordable education, and respect for the dignity of every member of our community. In alignment with our mission and values, the university continues to follow applicable state and federal guidance related to immigration policy and to uphold California laws that protect individual rights and privacy, regardless of immigration status."