[Red and white labeled passport, Photo Credit to Unsplash]

On April 25, the Trump administration reinstated some of the hundreds of international student visas that had been in the process of revocation for months now. 

Across the United States (US) reside approximately 1.1 million international student visa-holders. Since the current US government administration’s reinstatement on January 20 of this year, immigration authorities from the US Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have been terminating international student visas in over 32 states and 80 universities across the country.

It was confirmed by US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, that by March of this year, at least 300 visas were revoked. Yet, according to data collected by the National Association of Foreign Student Advisors, more than 1,400 students have reported visa terminations, roughly 40% of whom are from India or China. 

Actions by the government to execute this have been extensive. The Department of Homeland Security created a task force that uses data analysis to scan through international students’ social media histories for potential grounds to revoke their visas, as well as charges and criminal convictions on students’ records.

All of these records are stored in SEVIS, the Student and Exchange Visitor Information, a federal database. 

Most international students remain in the United States under the F-1 and J-1 visas. The F-1 visa permits noncitizens to study in the United States as full time students at educational institutions, while the J-1 visa covers not only students but also teachers, researchers, and specialists who participate in specific programs in the US regarding research. 

The noticeable trend among students with their visa revoked has been participation in pro-Palestinian political activism or minor legal infractions (e.g. driving over the speed limit). 

This March, Mahmoud Khalil of Columbia University, a pro-Palestinian activist, was detained and had his visa rescinded. 

Similarly, Rümeysa Öztürk, a student who studied at Tufts University with Turkish nationality, was also detained this March. Footage of her detainment depicts her being encircled by six plain-clothed ICE agents who stop her on the street as she heads to a Ramadon celebration. 

Many other  students were given ambiguous reasons for the revocation of their visa, while some weren’t given an explanation at all. For example, Xiaotian Liu, a 26 year old doctoral student from China at Dartmouth had not committed any crimes or participated in any protests. Yet, his visa was revoked “without any notice and sufficient explanation.” 

The American Civil Liberties Union spoke up as well, condemning the current administration’s actions by saying that “no president should be allowed to set an ideological litmus test and exclude or remove people from our country who they disagree with.” 

In response to the mass revocation, several international students then filed lawsuits against the US government to challenge their visa revocations and detainment in an effort to delay/stop their deportation. The Oakland hearing in California involved eight lawsuits filed by international students arguing that the federal government had terminated their right to remain in the US without due process. 

In total, more than 70 lawsuits were filed in 21 states, broadly challenging the legality of visa terminations. 

Amid rising public pressure, the US government abruptly restored many of these terminated visas on April 25. 

Last Friday, Elizabeth D. Kurlan, an Assistant United States Attorney, also announced that ICE would create a new policy to govern how records would be terminated in SEVIS. 

In order to protect themselves from ICE officials, many students have been given a 14 day temporary restraining order as a means of adhering to the Administrative Procedure Act and due process protections.  

Despite this, irreparable harms have also been inflicted. After learning that some of their students could not legally work, many employers fired their student workers. 

In any case, international students all across the United States have yet to see the conclusion to this. For now, they hang on to their rights and futures on just a narrow thread.