In a significant development, the Trump administration has reinstated visas for hundreds of international students whose legal status was abruptly rescinded, following a wave of legal challenges. This decision, confirmed by government officials on Friday, aims to alleviate widespread fears of deportation among affected students.
The reinstatements come after over 100 lawsuits were filed by students whose records were terminated without notice, stripping them of their rights to study in the United States. Attorneys representing these students report that many records in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) have been restored in recent days.
“This is a crucial reprieve for many students,” said Elora Mukherjee, director of the Immigrants’ Rights Clinic at Columbia Law School. “However, the ordeal is far from over for those whose records were impacted.”
Despite the reinstatement of visas, legal advocates maintain that the sudden revocations violated students’ rights and severely disrupted their education. The Justice Department and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have not yet commented on the situation.
According to a BBC report, Justice Department attorney Elizabeth Kurlan informed a California federal court that immigration officials are working on a new system for reviewing and terminating student visas. This policy overhaul follows a sweeping crackdown that affected approximately 1,800 students across 280 universities, as reported by Inside Higher Ed.
Many of the students impacted had previously participated in political protests or faced minor legal issues, such as traffic violations. Secretary of State Marco Rubio had indicated that the administration would revoke visas for individuals whose conduct was deemed contrary to U.S. interests.
The mass terminations triggered panic on college campuses, prompting some students to leave the country preemptively to avoid potential detention or deportation. “Losing SEVIS status left these students vulnerable to immigration enforcement,” Mukherjee noted.
While SEVIS records are now being restored, Kurlan emphasized that ICE still holds the authority to terminate student status for other violations under the Immigration and Nationality Act. The evolving legal and policy landscape continues to cast uncertainty over foreign students and the universities that host them.
