In a surprising turn of events, the administration of United States President Donald Trump has embarked on a student visa restoration program.
The student visa restoration program comes in contrast to the initial decision of Trump’s administration to terminate the visas of thousands of international students.
The development also comes following intense legal pushback from courts across the United States.
More than 100 lawsuits were filed against the government, with judges in at least 23 states issuing orders to halt the terminations, citing violations of due process and arbitrary enforcement.
The controversy began earlier this month when U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) terminated the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) records of foreign students, primarily those holding F-1 visas.
The Pan-Atlantic Kompass had reported that these terminations, which were said to be based on minor or dismissed legal infractions like traffic violations or participation in political protests, leftover 1,800 students, including 39 Nigerians, at risk of deportation and unable to continue their studies.
In a new development, Justice Department attorney Elizabeth Kurlan informed a federal court in California that immigration officials are developing a new system for reviewing and terminating visas for international students.
Kurlan told the court that the U.S. government has already begun the student visa restoration move following complaints and feedback.
She announced that throughout the next few days student records would be restored in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, which monitors foreign students’ visa compliance.
However, Kurlan clarified that Immigration and Customs Enforcement retains the authority to terminate SEVIS records for other reasons.
“If a student fails to maintain his or her nonimmigrant status after the record is reactivated, or engages in other unlawful activity that would render him or her removable from the United States under the Immigration and Nationality Act,” Kurlan.
Also, Attorneys representing students nationwide have begun to give testimonies that Trump’s administration restored student visas for their clients.
Elora Mukherjee, director of the Immigrants’ Rights Clinic at Columbia Law School, who spoke with the press said: “What I’m hearing is that this is a reprieve for many students who have had their status reinstated in SEVIS. But this doesn’t mean this ordeal is over for the students who have had their records terminated.”
