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Three Maryland institutions signed on to support a lawsuit against the federal government on Thursday over its revocation of student visas.

The University System of Maryland, Goucher College and Loyola University Maryland signed an amicus brief supporting a preliminary injunction to stop the Trump administration from revoking student visas without cause and arresting, detaining and deporting noncitizen students and faculty.

“The [visa revocation] policy has created a climate of fear among non-citizens at American colleges and universities,” the amicus brief states. “Seeing these actions, non-citizen students and faculty report being scared that they, too, will be targeted by the administration.”

Eighty-six institutions of higher education and associations signed the brief, submitted by the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration in support of an American Association of University Professors’ lawsuit.

Four international graduate students at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, have lost their student visas, along with an unspecified number of students at the University of Maryland, College Park.

The Johns Hopkins University, where “approximately a dozen” international graduate students and recent graduates have lost their visas, did not sign the amicus brief. The university declined a request for comment.

In an op-ed for the student newspaper, Stephen Gange, the executive vice provost for academic affairs, and James Brailer, the associate vice provost for international students and scholar services, wrote that they share the “serious concerns arising from recent changes in federal immigration policies and enforcement activities and understand the anxiety these changes instill in our community members and their families, here and abroad.”

Hopkins previously told faculty and staff not to intervene in potential ICE activity on campus.

No Goucher students have had their visas revoked yet, according to Kent Devereaux, the college’s president in a message to students.

The college feels “strongly that the recent deportations of international students is an abdication of fundamental American values such as free speech and the open exchange of ideas,” Devereaux said.

A spokesperson for Loyola did not respond to a comment request and did not share whether any of the university’s students had their visas revoked.

According to the amicus brief, as of Tuesday, the Trump administration has revoked the visas of over 500 non-citizens, “including many international students, in some cases based on alleged participation in campus activism or social media activity deemed contrary to administration policies.”

Spokespeople at Hopkins, UMD and UMBC have all said they are not aware of why the student visas were revoked and could not say for certain that any of the students were involved in campus activism.

The visa revocation policy, the amicus brief argues, threatens to “significantly reduce” the number of foreign students and non-citizens seeking to attend U.S. colleges.

Student activists recently gathered at the Hopkins campus, calling on Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, Attorney General Anthony Brown and state legislators to protect students from federal immigration officers.

“Our students are scared,” said University System of Maryland Chancellor Jay Perman at a Maryland Board of Regents meeting on Friday morning. “Not just visa-holding students, but any student with noncitizen status.”

There are 10,192 international students at universities within the system. That includes 6,367 graduate students and 3,825 undergraduates.

Perman said he’s spoken to students who have started to carry their passports with them at all times. One, he said, now carries her green card with her.

The immigration clinics at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, and the University of Baltimore law schools have offered their services to affected students, Perman added.

Fernando Miralles-Wilhelm, the president of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, said at the meeting on Friday morning that he has advised faculty not to travel overseas if they don’t have to.

“I’m a U.S. citizen, and I carry my U.S. passport card in my wallet, because you never know,” he said.

Miralles-Wilhelm said that because he has an accent, and his first name is Fernando, he tries to take extra precautions.

“That’s been my advice to our campus, to our faculty and to our students,” he said. “I think that’s a rational approach to dealing with this.”

This reporting is part of The Banner’s Education Hub, community-funded journalism that provides parents with resources they need to make decisions about how their children learn. Read more.

ellie.wolfe@thebaltimorebanner.com

Ellie Wolfe reports on higher education at the Baltimore Banner. Raised in western Massachusetts and a proud graduate of Bates College, Ellie spent a year reporting on higher education at the Arizona Daily Star in Tucson before moving to Baltimore.

Baltimore City’s “Sleepless Flower Girl” plans to create generational wealth after winning $5 million playing the $5,000,000 Cash scratch-off game.

Baltimore woman’s sick day leads to big payday from $5,000,000 Cash game

A Baltimore City woman’s sick day turned into a huge payday after scratching off a $5,000,000 Cash ticket and revealing the top prize. The federal government employee could not believe her luck after taking a day off work because of a sinus infection.

The nervous, but calm winner chose the anonymous nickname “Sleepless Flower Girl” because of her lack of sleep after the win, and her love for nature. While claiming the prize, she shared the events that led to her becoming Baltimore’s newest multi-millionaire.

On April 10, “Sleepless Flower Girl” was home sick when she decided a smoothie may help her ailments. She headed to the Safeway on Harford Road for ingredients to make her tasty treat. While there, she remembered she had a $120-winning Keno ticket that she needed to cash. With those winnings, “Sleepless Flower Girl” purchased some more tickets including a $50 $5,000,000 Cash scratch-off.

The winner returned home and scanned her tickets on the Lottery app. When she came to the last ticket, she could not believe her eyes.

“I saw the message and the confetti pop up, but I couldn’t tell if it was $5,000 or $5 million,” she said. “I kept scanning it over and over, but I still couldn’t believe it.”

The big winner immediately called her mother who was at work.

“She told me to come home right away,” said the winner’s mother who accompanied her daughter to claim the prize. “I was scared to death.”

“Sleepless Flower Girl” shared a screenshot of the winning message to her mother. When she saw all the zeroes, she told her daughter to scratch the whole ticket.

“I did and I still missed seeing how I won,” she said. “It was like my eyes were playing tricks on me.”

Finally, it registered when she focused and saw that her number matched and there was a whopping $5,000,000 prize below it.

“Sleepless Flower Girl” was so excited about her win that she could not sleep the night before claiming the prize. She was still feeling a bit dazed when she shared with Lottery officials that she plans to buy a house with her winnings and invest some. The mother-of-one son plans to create generational wealth for her family.

The winning ticket was purchased at the Safeway store at 4401 Harford Road in Baltimore City. The retailer will receive a $5,000 bonus from the Lottery for selling the top-prize winning ticket. The $50 ticket still has two $5,000,000 top prizes available, seven $100,000 prizes and thousands of prizes ranging from $100 to $10,000.

MARYLAND — A sprawling storm system could bring severe weather, including heavy rain, thunderstorms and high winds, to the Baltimore-DC region this weekend.

The cross-country storm, which is moving in from the west, is expected to arrive on the East Coast on Sunday. The system is expected to trigger severe weather for several states over the coming days. The Weather Channel reports the storm could have wind gusts of up to 70 mph in the Midwest. A tornado outbreak is possible Saturday in the deep south, according to the Weather Channel.

In the Baltimore region, residents can expect an increasing chance of showers Sunday afternoon, with a period of heavier showers and storms likely by mid-afternoon into the evening, according to the Capital Weather Gang. Some storms may be intense.

Showers and some heavy storms will persist into the evening, forecasters say. Much of the area could see a half-inch of total rainfall. Depending on the number of storms that form, some spots could see up to 1 to 2 inches.

The National Weather Service said winds could gust up to 32 mph on Sunday. Temperatures will be warm, with a high around 70.

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“Strong wind gusts and torrential downpours will be the greatest threats from the storms on Sunday as they progress from the I-81 and I-85 corridors to I-95, according to the AccuWeather forecast.

“The combination of both can lead to dangerous conditions on the highways and trigger ground stops and flight cancellations at the major airport hubs from Charlotte to Washington, D.C., Philadelphia and New York City,” AccuWeather says.

Here is the detailed forecast for the Baltimore area:

Friday: Cloudy, then gradually becoming mostly sunny, with a high near 56. Southeast wind 5 to 7 mph.

Friday Night: Patchy fog after 2am. Otherwise, increasing clouds, with a low around 45. Southeast wind 5 to 7 mph.

Saturday: Patchy fog before 11am. Otherwise, cloudy, with a high near 63. Southeast wind 5 to 9 mph.

Saturday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 57. Southeast wind 8 to 10 mph, with gusts as high as 18 mph.

Sunday: A chance of showers, then showers and possibly a thunderstorm after 2pm. High near 70. Breezy, with a south wind 15 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 32 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%.

Sunday Night: Showers and possibly a thunderstorm before 2am, then a chance of showers. Low around 51. Chance of precipitation is 90%.

Monday: A chance of showers before 8am. Mostly sunny, with a high near 61. Chance of precipitation is 30%.

I used to live between Baltimore and Washington, D.C., venturing into both cities as often as my schedule allowed. While there are countless free museums, monuments, and places to explore in D.C., Baltimore is just as worthy of a day trip, especially when you’re on a budget. In fact, there are plenty of cheap things to do in Baltimore, and some activities are even free. Come along as we explore Baltimore, Maryland, for less than $50 a day.

Our morning began at Federal Hill Park.

Federal Hill Park is one of my favorite places to take visitors to Baltimore. Here, you can discover sweeping panoramic views of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor. While exploring the Inner Harbor itself is magnificent, there’s something about seeing the water from a higher vantage point that makes Baltimore feel even more special.

The hill was used and fortified as a fort by the Union Army during the American Civil War and was later acquired by the city of Baltimore in 1880 when it was established as a city park. My daughter loves the playground here, and it would be an excellent spot for a picnic.

Spent: $0

Next up was Edgar Allen Poe’s Grave.

Perhaps one of the most famous individuals associated with the city of Baltimore, Edgar Allen Poe, is buried at Westminster Hall, a former Presbyterian church turned event venue with early Gothic revival architecture.

The Hall’s Burying Ground is the resting place of several other notable figures, including generals and heroes of the American Revolution and War of 1812. Though small, the cemetery is one of the most fascinating I have seen, with catacombs under the hall and several aboveground gravesites — including crypts and mausoleums — throughout.

Spent: $5 for parking

From here, we walked over to Lexington Market.

First established in 1782 and rebuilt and reimagined as recently as 2022, Lexington Market has an impressive history in Baltimore. It is the oldest public market in the United States and is thought to be one of the world's oldest continuously operating public markets. The 60,000-square-foot space houses more than 45 vendors serving everything from coffee and pastries to Asian and Southern favorites. There is also a fish market, butcher shop, soap company, and micro-bookstore.

I am obsessed with Korean food, so the moment I saw Dosirock — and the chicken katsu curry on their menu — I immediately knew I had to try it. I ate the dish often in Hawaii but didn’t find it on many menus in Maryland, so I was excited to try Dosirock’s version. While it was a splurge at $19.06 for the curry and a drink, it absolutely did not disappoint. The meal was so large that I took my leftovers home to enjoy later.

After lunch, I grabbed a cup of coffee for the road — an iced honey lavender vanilla latte from Black Acres Roastery in Lexington Market, to be exact — for a total of $7.24. Coffee is undoubtedly getting expensive, but I love trying new coffee shops, and this latte combined all of my favorite coffee flavors into one — it was so worth it.

Note: There are cheaper options at the market, so if you’re looking to spend a little less, it’s 100% doable.

Spent: $26.30

After lunch, we made our way to Mount Vernon Place.

Here, you will discover Baltimore’s Washington Monument — the first monument to George Washington constructed in the United States. It is surrounded by four small parks and stunning architecture, including the pictured Mt. Vernon Place United Methodist Church, which was built in the Norman-Gothic style and completed in 1872.

We wanted to visit the George Peabody Library, but it was unfortunately closed to the public the day we were in Baltimore. I have yet to visit this neighborhood when it was open, but I hope to make it eventually.

Spent: $3.75 for street parking near Mount Vernon Square

The biggest (and last) stop on our day trip was the Walters Art Museum, a historic three-building art museum with free admission. It's a great spot for those looking for free things to do in Baltimore.

With more than 36,000 objects, the Walters Art Museum’s collection spans seven millennia, from 5,000 BCE to the 21st century. The historic building is a work of art itself, and I am always inspired tremendously by this free art museum. The museum even offers family-friendly programming, including Drop-In Art-Making most weekends from September through June. A previous trip to the Walters on a sunny spring Saturday led to crafting with our toddler.

Spent: $0

While this day wasn’t jam-packed with activities, I enjoyed some of my favorite things in Baltimore — a stellar view, an art museum, a few historic spots, Korean food, and coffee. All in all, it was a successful and affordable Baltimore day trip.

Spending Total: $35.05

As you can see, Baltimore on a budget is doable! I even had $14.95 left over for more food, souvenirs, or a dessert for the drive home. While this day trip was calculated and executed for a single human being, I easily could have added an extra $7 for a second cup of coffee to bring my significant other along for the journey — splitting the massive plate of katsu curry, of course — and still be under our $50 budget.

So, there you have it — a day where you don't have to spend more than $50, as there are plenty of cheap things to do in Baltimore. What are some of your favorite cheap (or free) activities to do in the city? Let us know through our nomination page. And if you prefer to take an affordable tour in Baltimore for under $50, try the spooky yet fun Raven's Revenge Ghost Tour.

So, tell us, what is your favorite day trip destination? Where should we explore next, travelers? Sound off in the comments, and be sure to sign up for our Bucket List newsletter, where we plan to unveil more Budgetlist adventures across the United States. Happy adventuring!

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The initial list of federal properties that may be sold included some of the country's most recognizable buildings, along with courthouses.

Megan VerHelst, Patch Staff

|Updated Wed, Mar 5, 2025 at 1:50 pm ET

MARYLAND — The General Services Administration on Tuesday released a list of more than 400 federal properties that could be sold or closed, including several in Maryland, because they have been deemed non-essential for government operations.

Hours later, however, the administration issued a revised list with only 320 entries. By Wednesday morning, the list was gone entirely. “Non-core property list (Coming soon),” the page read.

The General Services Administration, which published the lists, did not immediately respond to questions about the changes or why the properties that had been listed had been removed.

The initial list spanned nearly every state and included some of the country’s most recognizable buildings, along with courthouses, offices and even parking garages.

In Washington, D.C., it included the J. Edgar Hoover Building, which serves as FBI headquarters, the Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building, the Old Post Office building, where President Donald Trump once ran a hotel, and the American Red Cross headquarters. The headquarters of numerous agencies, including the Department of Labor and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, were listed as well.

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Reducing federal office space has been one of the Trump administration's top priorities since assuming power in January. Last month, GSA regional managers were told by the agency's Washington headquarters to begin terminating leases on all of the approximately 7,500 federal offices nationwide.

"We are identifying buildings and facilities that are not core to government operations, or non-core properties for disposal," a message on the GSA website stated.

"Selling ensures that taxpayer dollars are no longer spent on vacant or underutilized federal spaces. Disposing of these assets helps eliminate costly maintenance and allows us to reinvest in high-quality work environments that support agency missions."

These are the federal buildings in Maryland that the GSA said Tuesday are "designated for disposal":

On Tuesday, U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Maryland) released a statement and said the sale of federal buildings would "cause greater chaos and confusion, ultimately harming the American people and their access to Medicare, Medicaid, veterans’ services and more.”

"These offices are critical to connecting Americans with vital services," Van Hollen said. "While no one is opposed to bringing greater efficiency to our government, this haphazard proposal has no basis in efficiency."

In a joint statement, Reps. Kweisi Mfume and Johnny Olszewski called the announcement "alarming."

"GSA must explain what will happen to the agencies and employees housed in these buildings. We fear this is another step in their plans to dismantle Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid," the lawmakers said, adding, "No federal government building should be sold without a utilization assessment that is made public and a clear plan to house federal workers."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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