PULSE POINTS:
❓What Happened: The Trump administration has decided to reinstate the legal status of foreign students whose student visas were recently terminated. This comes as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) plans to develop a new policy for handling visa termination.
👥 Who’s Involved: The decision involves the Trump administration, ICE, foreign students, the Justice Department (DOJ), and a number of American universities across the country.
📍 Where & When: Affected students across the U.S. began seeing their statuses restored as of Thursday afternoon. The announcement was made during a hearing in the Northern District of California.
💬 Key Quote: DOJ attorney Elizabeth D. Kurlan stated, “ICE still maintains the authority to terminate a SEVIS record for other reasons.”
⚠️ Impact: The reinstatement affects many foreign students, allowing some to regain their status, though their visas remain revoked, causing uncertainty. The termination still appears on records, potentially affecting future visas or green card applications.
IN FULL:
The Trump administration announced on Friday that it would restore the legal status of a number of foreign students whose records were previously terminated. Department of Justice (DOJ) attorney Elizabeth D. Kurlan announced the move during a federal court hearing in the Northern District of California. The DOJ attorney elaborated that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) now plans to introduce a new policy to govern the termination of status records.
This development follows the Trump administration’s previous action of revoking visas and legal statuses of many foreign students, particularly those who participated in pro-Hamas demonstrations or had prior charges such as DUIs. While affected students may see their records reactivated, their visa revocation still appears on their record, and ICE notes it still retains the authority to terminate Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) records.
“ICE still maintains the authority to terminate a SEVIS record for other reasons,” Kurlan said, adding that the reasons include situations “…such as 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.”
A number of foreign students impacted by the revocations saw their statuses updated on Thursday afternoon, almost 24 hours before the DOJ announcement in federal court. However, not all foreign students were reinstated. The University of California, Berkeley, says about half of its affected students have regained their status. Other academic institutions have seen similar mixed updates.
Additionally, the prior terminations still appear on student records, which could negatively impact future immigration processes such as green card applications or requests for other visa statuses.
