NWPB Weekly News Now
Student Visas Revoked in the NW and Financial Issues for Blueberry Farmers: April 23, 2025
4/23/2025 | 2m 29sVideo has Closed Captions
Hosted by NWPB Multimedia News Director Tracci Dial.
University officials at Washington State University and the University of Idaho are reacting after students at both schools have their student visas revoked. Plus, blueberry farmers in the northwest are bracing for financial challenges as new challenges to international trade continue. Also, we take a closer look at the Old Hotel Arts Galery in Othello, Washington.
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NWPB Weekly News Now is a local public television program presented by NWPB
NWPB Weekly News Now
Student Visas Revoked in the NW and Financial Issues for Blueberry Farmers: April 23, 2025
4/23/2025 | 2m 29sVideo has Closed Captions
University officials at Washington State University and the University of Idaho are reacting after students at both schools have their student visas revoked. Plus, blueberry farmers in the northwest are bracing for financial challenges as new challenges to international trade continue. Also, we take a closer look at the Old Hotel Arts Galery in Othello, Washington.
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Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshipStudents across the nation, including more than half a dozen on the Palouse, have had their student visas revoked.
As of mid-April, four University of Idaho students out of Moscow and three from Washington State University in Pullman were confirmed to have their visas revoked.
There were also students affected at the University of Washington and the University of Oregon.
We talked to Kate Hellman, WSUs Director of International Student and Scholar Services.
“I've been in this position for almost six years.
I've been in the field of international education for 20.
I've never seen something like this.” School leaders at both WSU and UI say the universities have not been notified by federal officials, nor given a reason as to why the student visas were revoked.
Blueberries, it turns out, are a complicated industry here in the northwest, and Washington is the nation's leader in blueberry production.
In a story filed with the American Public Medias Marketplace, NWPBs Anna King dug into the multimillion dollar international fruit industry that's bracing for potential complications if tariffs come into play.
Right now, the tariffs don't apply to the US and Canadian berries, but growers on both sides of the border are worried.
At a 1,500 acre blueberry farm in Franklin County, Ray Biln says his family employs some 800 workers during harvest, so tough decisions for the company affect a lot of people.
“That's why it's important to stay even keel and try to make the best decisions in, you know, the landscape were given.” As of late April, there are no tariffs on blueberries going to Canada or Canadian blueberries coming back to the U.S.
They're part of the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement, making them exempt from tariffs so far.
For some original NWPB entertainment, a delightful video called the Old Hotel Arts Gallery.
You can catch it on PBS, stream it on our apps or head to YouTube to watch it.
We take you to the small farming town of Othello in eastern Washington.
It's home to a longstanding arts hub, the Old Hotel Art Gallery, first built in 1912 as a railroad hotel.
Learn about its history, the women who founded the gallery and how people are thinking about its future.
You don't want to miss this one.
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NWPB Weekly News Now is a local public television program presented by NWPB