The visa cancellations, which came without warning or explanation, have alarmed international students, higher education institutions, and local Democratic leaders. The moves, considered unprecedented, come as federal immigration officials have arrested hundreds in Massachusetts and deported many from across the country, including some apparently by mistake.

The Trump administration has vowed to deport pro-Palestinian protesters, but a number of the visa revocations — including those at MIT, according to the university — appear unrelated to student activism.

MIT did not specify if the individuals were current or former students, or what programs they attended, but said the school was in touch with them.

“Our international students have always been and continue to be essential to MIT’s creative excellence and to the distinctive community we all treasure,” David L. Darmofal, the vice chancellor for undergraduate and graduate education, and Suzy M. Nelson, the vice chancellor for student life, said in the joint email. “The Institute’s leadership, faculty, and staff are here to support you. You are not alone.”

Wu said city officials are working with the city’s office of Police Accountability and Transparency as well as community groups to ensure people can report and document problems with federal immigration officials so there’s a way “to check whether all the laws are being followed.”

Immigration is one of several areas in which Wu said the city has scrambled to respond to the sweeping changes made since Trump returned to the White House in January. Her appearance came after the city on Monday rolled out her proposed annual budget, for which Wu told GBH the city had to “prepare for the worst case scenario” as the Trump administration has slashed federal funds.

Staff with Trump’s antisemitism task force will meet with Boston city staff Wednesday, Wu said, after that task force notified leaders of four cities last month they wanted to “discuss their responses to antisemitism at schools and on college campuses.”

The Trump administration recently said it would review roughly $9 billion in federal grants and contracts awarded to Harvard University as they crack down on universities accused of permitting antisemitic harassment. Some of the Trump administration’s earliest challenges to immigrant students’ legal statuses also involved those reportedly affiliated with pro-Palestinian activism.

Actions from the Trump administration and Elon Musk, the tech billionaire leading the Department of Government Efficiency, drew significant backlash in Massachusetts Saturday, when more than 25,000 people descended upon the Boston Common for a protest part of the broader “Hands Off!” demonstrations nationwide.

Wu praised those who had come out to make their voices heard — which coincided with the kickoff for her re-election campaign. She urged “institutions who have resources to use those,” referring to powerful entities such as universities and law firms who have been targeted by the White House.

In the first few months of Trump’s administration “there was this sense of, should we really say anything because there’s so much retaliation threatened, there’s so much at stake?” Wu said. ”We’ve seen in sector after sector . . . when you just keep trying to survive, it only makes it worse from a bully."

Even in deep-blue Massachusetts, “the more we get to see visibly what the public actually thinks about what’s happening, I do think that matters,” Wu said of the state’s Democratic officials. “We have to be the beacon where we’re still making progress and moving forward as a counterpoint and potentially even the antidote to some of what’s happening nationally.”

Anjali Huynh can be reached at anjali.huynh@globe.com.