US administration reverses course; moves to restore cancelled student visas
- US immigration officials have been moving in recent weeks to cancel the visa status of thousands of international students in the US
- In response, more than 100 lawsuits have sought to have those visa cancellations reversed
- On 25 April, the US administration announced that it would do just that
- It indicated that it may yet introduce a new enforcement policy, but it would nevertheless suspend the process of arbitrary visa cancellations
Earlier this month, widespread reports emerged that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been terminating the visa status of international students in SEVIS (the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System). The system is open to both US college and government officials and it was those staff members in institutions around the country who first sounded the alarm. In the course of their normal work within SEVIS, educators began to notice that students' visa status was being cancelled by ICE officials without notice, explanation, or the chance for students to defend themselves.
The estimated number of affected students soon reached into the hundreds, and then thousands. The reasons for the cancellations were not at all clear, and both colleges and students were thrown into a great deal of uncertainty around how to handle this extraordinary change in the students' visa status.
A statement from NAFSA explains that, "The cause given for the SEVIS record termination has changed. When NAFSA first became aware of these terminations, the rationale given was tied to sections of the Immigration and Naturalization Act and references to being a foreign policy threat. Now the reason given is 'other' with a vague reference to a criminal records check 'and/or' a visa revocation…There is still no transparency on the grounds for these revocations, nor is there any clear process for determining what the charges are against the students. Due process is woefully absent."
US institutions and peak bodies began to respond with legal action, which has to date resulted in more than 100 lawsuits. Judges in at least 50 of those actions have ordered US officials to temporarily undo the visa cancellations. More recently, the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration filed suit on 24 April "challenging the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) unlawful mass termination of SEVIS records for F-1 students and participants in the Optional Practical Training (OPT) programme."
The Presidents’ Alliance asks the court to "vacate all improper SEVIS terminations," "enjoin DHS from future terminations," and "order immediate reactivation of SEVIS records for those already harmed."
“We are going to court to protect the rights of international students and defend our member institutions’ ability to appropriately attract, retain, and support them," said Presidents’ Alliance CEO Miriam Feldblum. "The unlawful termination of student records without due process strikes at the heart of higher education’s mission. Colleges and universities drive innovation, research, and workforce growth by fostering global talent – but they can’t do that when students’ futures are derailed without explanation or when fear and uncertainty diminish our global competitiveness and reputation. These actions deter future students from studying here in the US, and hinder campus administrators from carrying out their work by the arbitrary upending of established regulations and processes.”
The National Immigration Project is supporting the Presidents’ Alliance lawsuit, and its executive director, Sirine Shebaya, added: "The sudden move to terminate thousands of students’ SEVIS records without any lawful basis is unprecedented and has introduced fear and uncertainty into the lives of international students…The terminations are not only lawless; they are also cruel, and yet another manifestation of policies that fly in the face of both legal standards and common decency."
In the face of mounting legal challenges, the Justice Department announced in federal court on 25 April that it would undertake a wholesale reversal of the student visa cancellations. Reporting on the hearing, Politico said that, "[The Department of Justice] said that Immigration and Customs Enforcement is working on a new policy regarding foreign students studying in the United States on so-called F-1 visas. Until that policy is issued, no students will have their online student-visa records, known as SEVIS records, terminated 'solely based on' criminal history checks that had flagged misdemeanor charges and dismissed cases."
Reading from a statement in court on 25 April, a Justice Department attorney added, "ICE maintains the authority to terminate a SEVIS record for other reasons, such as if the plaintiff 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.”
That government response clearly leaves the door open to further enforcement action within SEVIS, but it seems as well that the legal actions brought to date have been an effective challenge to the government's initial action to cancel thousands of student visas.
Even so, international educators in the US acknowledge the harm that the government's enforcement action has already caused. “Trust is broken for students that this is a system that is fair and consistent and transparent," said NAFSA CEO Fanta Aw, speaking recently to Inside Higher Ed. "I don’t have to tell you how hard it is to rebuild that.”
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