The Trump administration has restored the student visa registrations of thousands of foreign students studying in the U.S., it was reported Friday.
During a federal court hearing, the Justice Department announced the reversal after weeks of intense scrutiny by courts and dozens of restraining orders issued by judges who deemed the mass termination of students from a federal database as illegal, Politico reported.
DOJ said that Immigration and Customs Enforcement is working on a new policy regarding foreign students studying in the U.S. 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, the outlet added.
More than 1,000 international students have had their visas or legal status revoked in recent weeks, and several have filed lawsuits against the Trump administration, arguing the government denied them due process when it suddenly took away their permission to be in the U.S.
The actions by the federal government to terminate students’ legal status have left hundreds of scholars at risk of detention and deportation. Their schools range from private universities like Harvard and Stanford to large public institutions like the University of Maryland and Ohio State University to some small liberal arts colleges.
At least 1,024 students at 160 colleges, universities and university systems have had their visas revoked or their legal status terminated since late March, according to an Associated Press review of university statements, correspondence with school officials and court records.
In lawsuits against the Department of Homeland Security, students have argued the government lacked justification to cancel their visa or terminate their legal status.
Visas can be canceled for a number of reasons, but colleges say some students are being singled out over infractions as minor as traffic violations, including some long in the past. In some cases, students say it’s unclear why they were targeted.
From warnings not to leave the country to guidance on how to complete degrees, U.S. universities have been advising foreign students how to withstand President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown,
Some university advisers have been quietly telling students from abroad to hire a lawyer and keep attending classes while legal appeals play out.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this story.
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