After weeks of chaos and disruption, international students, universities and advocates took a break on Friday. After thousands of students learn about their Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVIS) identities, they feel relieved to hear that immigration and customs law enforcement are reinstating that students are reinstating their status as students nationwide.
“When the news came, I was in class and there was a feeling of relief,” Chris said. R Glass is a professor at the International Higher Education Center at Boston University. “But it’s not that things get better, it’s just that they’re not going to get worse.”
The Trump administration’s reversal is a major victory for dozens of lawsuits nationwide that argue that eliminating the Sevis record of thousands of students is unconstitutional. But the threat to international students remains imminent, experts say. The most pressing question: Will this happen again?
The government did not say in notice to federal judges that it had eliminated the student’s Sevis record, just that “ice will not be modified [a] Recorded based on NCIC only [National Crime Information Center] According to a court application, ICE is in the process of ending the policy framework for SEVIS records, finding that this has resulted in the termination of the recent SEVIS record.
Reactivating students’ records has not eliminated questions about the origins of “this illegal policy,” said his co-founder, president and CEO of the Higher Education and Immigration Coalition, president and CEO. “We need to understand why and what the policy structure is.”
The presidential coalition filed a lawsuit Thursday night challenging the termination of Severs’ record, believing that students were “deprived of valid identity, without warnings, personalized opportunities for explanations and responses” and that the government’s actions undermined member institutions’ ability to attract, retain and serve international students. The Presidential Alliance has asked the court to prohibit DHS from being immune to the future termination of students in member institutions.
“We are happy to see this change in the direction of restoring records,” Feldblum said. “This has not eliminated the need for litigation in the state system.”
Elora Mukherjee, director of the Center for Immigration Rights at Columbia Law School, said the Trump administration’s decision to restore student visas also had no legal reason to negate the case. She added that federal courts have the right to prohibit executive departments on the basis of repetitive issues to prevent harm from happening in the future, in which case it would be another comprehensive evacuation of the legal rankings of students.
Feldblum said the presidential coalition hopes to learn more about the government’s intentions, policy structures and plans through litigation.
Advocates of international students stress that while students may regain legal status to study and work in the United States, changes in their identities may have a greater impact on their immigration status.
The federal government said it would resume the terminated Severus record, but some students were revoked their visas, said Fanta AW, CEO and executive director of international educator NAFSA. Students will have to visit an embassy to obtain a visa, face a long wait time and there is no guarantee that they will be able to regain their visa.
For those who have not lost their visa, termination could have a serious impact on students’ continuous time in the United States, AW said. Feldblum said that the reasons for the statement of Severus termination and the symbols in the record could also have negative long-term consequences.
On campus, administrators and students are still confused about what will happen next, but Feldblum and AW said, clearly feeling relieved.
As of Friday, Internal Advanced ED More than 1,840 students and recent graduates from more than 280 universities and universities were identified who reported a record-breaking turnaround in SEVIS.
AW said most institutions were not notified when students’ records were initially changed, and they were not notified when they were reauthorized. Just like revocation, staff regularly checks Sevis to see if there has been any change.
Some universities – including Harvard, Rice, Stanford, Tufts University, Lincoln University of Nebraska and the University of California, Berkeley, reported that some of their affected students had resumed their visas or Sevis status. Some students still terminate records.
As federal workers have to manually restore each student’s status, slow recovery may be related to the tedious nature of the work, AW said.
AW said NAFSA began tracking visa restorations and will report figures on Monday, including the number of repairs and agency types.
Feldblum said the presidential coalition will stay in touch with member agencies to provide the latest guidance on how to do it.
Experts point out that this reversal cannot eliminate the harm caused by policy. Students leaving the country based on exchanges between the Trump administration or its own universities may face challenges. Others were told to stop attending classes, working or conducting research. By restoring SEVIS records, students will be able to resume these activities, but they will not solve everything.
Over the past month, international students have experienced high levels of anxiety and stress and lack of psychological safety, which may affect their personal well-being and retention in higher education.
“You can’t go back to that time, lack of sleep, anxiety,” AW said. “For students, trust is a fair, consistent and transparent system. I don’t have to tell you how difficult it is to rebuild it.”
AW said at least some students can have a good night’s sleep tonight.
