The federal government is reversing the termination of legal status for international students around the U.S. after many filed court challenges against the Trump administration crackdown, a government lawyer said Friday.
The records in a federal student database maintained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement had been terminated in recent weeks, often without the students or their schools being notified. Judges around the country had already issued orders temporarily restoring the students' records in dozens of lawsuits challenging the terminations.
More than 1,200 students nationwide suddenly lost their legal status or had visas revoked, leaving them at risk for deportation. That number includes dozens of Colorado students. Some left the country while others have gone into hiding or stopped going to class.
In one of the lawsuits, a lawyer for the government read a statement in federal court in Oakland, California, that said ICE was restoring the student status for people whose records were terminated in recent weeks. Also Friday, the statement was read by a government attorney in a separate case in Washington, said lawyer Brian Green, who represents the plaintiff in that case. Green provided The Associated Press with a copy of the statement that the government lawyer emailed to him.
It says: "ICE is developing a policy that will provide a framework for SEVIS record terminations. Until such a policy is issued, the SEVIS records for plaintiff(s) in this case (and other similarly situated plaintiffs) will remain Active or shall be re-activated if not currently active and ICE will not modify the record solely based on the NCIC finding that resulted in the recent SEVIS record termination."
Green said that the government lawyer said it would apply to all students in the same situation, not just those who had filed lawsuits.
SEVIS is the Student and Exchange Visitor Information Systems database that tracks international students' compliance with their visa status. NCIC is the National Crime Information Center, which is maintained by the FBI.
A similar situation is happening in Colorado. Immigration attorney Zachary New, who is representing several students from schools like the University of Colorado and Colorado State University in a lawsuit, says the reversal is impacting his clients. New says that while it is welcome news, the initial decision has left more questions than answers. Including why ICE revoked the immigration status in the first place.
Last month, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said his department was revoking visas held by visitors who were acting counter to national interests, including some who protested Israel's war in Gaza and those who face criminal charges. But many students whose status was terminated said they did not fall under those categories or had only minor infractions on their record.
In lawsuits in several states, students argued they were denied due process. Many were told that their status was terminated as a result of a criminal records check or that their visa had been revoked.
International students and their schools were caught off guard by the terminations of the students' records. Many of the terminations were discovered when school officials were doing routine checks of the international student database or when they checked specifically after hearing about other terminations.
At least 1,220 students at 187 colleges, universities and university systems have had their visas revoked or their legal status terminated since late March, according to an Associated Press review of university statements, correspondence with school officials and court records. The AP has been working to confirm reports of hundreds more students who are caught up in the crackdown.
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Brumback reported from Atlanta. AP reporter Christopher L. Keller contributed from Albuquerque, New Mexico.
