WASHINGTON – In the backdrop of mounting legal pressure and global backlash, the Trump administration is reinstating the legal status of hundreds of foreign students whose visas were abruptly terminated in recent weeks.
In a federal court hearing on Friday, Justice Department attorney Elizabeth Kurlan confirmed that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is now working to restore the visas of students.
The official told the judge that ICE is restoring records of affected students in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) that monitors over one million international students in the country.
The policy reversal comes in the wake of over 100 lawsuits filed by students, many of whom reported losing legal status for minor allegations or dismissed charges.
In recent weeks, some students were allegedly targeted after participating in political protests or appearing in criminal history searches, despite no convictions for serious crimes. Those who took part in Pro-Palestinian protests specifically faced the brunt of the new White House administration.
The Trump administration’s revoking of visas impacted over 1,800 students across 280 universities though some estimates imply that over 4000 students were affected; the terminations caused confusion and panic, leading some students to leave the U.S and aspiring ones to choose other destinations for higher education.
In a significant recent policy shift, ICE informed the court it is now developing a clearer policy for SEVIS record terminations. Until that framework is finalized, the records of affected students—both litigants and non-litigants—will be restored.
Trump administration’s revocation of visas in large numbers had made headlines across the academic world. In this regard, one of the cases pertaining to Mahmoud Khalil, a permanent U.S. resident and pro-Palestinian activist at Columbia University grabbed global attention.
Khalil was ordered by the State Department to leave the country despite the fact that he had a Green Card. The deportation order was even backed by a judge in the US, leaving no hope for the student who just supported the Palestinian cause few months earlier.
The tycoon-turned-president had even mounted pressure on Harvard University to share some record related to students or else the university would not be allowed to enroll foreign students.
Although the government’s policy shift covers students with “minor” or “dismissed” legal issues like traffic offenses or charges that were later dropped, it is still uncertain whether individuals like Khalil are included in the Trump Administration’s decision or not.
