Trump administration to halt student visa cancellations

The Trump administration will reinstate all previously revoked Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) access, a process that is already underway as immigration authorities reverse visa revocations at Stanford and other schools.

“ICE is developing a policy that will provide a framework for SEVIS visa revocation. Until that is issued, the courts will reactivate [SEVIS records] if yet to be activated,” Justice Department lawyer Elizabeth Kurlan told Senior District Judge Jeffrey White during a Friday hearing in the Northern District of California in Oakland. The plaintiffs in the cases involved students and recent graduates across the nation, including several across the Bay Area and Stanford.

Government officials shared a similar update in a Washington court hearing Friday. Justice Department lawyer Joseph Carilli told a federal judge about the new policy changes, which would restore the legal status of those affected.

The policy shift has seemingly already begun to take effect on campuses. Stanford shared on April 24 that the University “has learned of one case in which a student visa revocation was reversed.” 

The attorneys noted during the hearing that a total of 15 plaintiffs had their legal status reinstated the night before and the morning of the court hearing. 

Before the hearing, White shared questions he had with the plaintiffs and defendants about a potential nationwide injunction of temporary restraining orders (TROs). This would grant protection against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to all students whose visas or SEVIS status were revoked.

Kurlan and Pam Johann, chief of the Civil Division for Northern California, presented the policy news to persuade White not to issue a nationwide injunction. The court will further discuss a nationwide injunction this Wednesday.

“The new policy is a reason there shouldn’t be an injunction order right now because it’s not needed,” Johann said during the hearing. “The agency is doing exactly what is requested [from the plaintiffs], which is reinstating the SEVIS records.”

In recent weeks, the Trump administration has revoked nearly 4,700 visas nationwide, including F-1 student visas and Optional Practical Training (OPT) visas for employed students and recent graduates. Among these were nearly 2,000 F-1 visas — more than six of them held by international students or recent graduates of Stanford — with many revocations targeting individuals involved in pro-Palestinian activism.

“We’re seeing in real time that these records are being reactivated. They have to be done manually, it’s not going to be instantaneous,” Johann said during the hearing. “The proof is in the pudding… ICE is going to activate all of these records.”

While the new policy will reinstate all previously revoked visas, the plaintiffs’ attorneys argued it does not provide full relief, and they continued to push for a nationwide injunction.

Representing several plaintiffs, Johnny Sinodis — an attorney for Van Der Hout Immigration & Nationality Law — emphasized the need for an injunction to protect against potential changes by the administration and address gaps in the legal status of those affected.

“There’s a gap now for all of these individuals of their OPT and of their F-1 status,” Sinodis told The Daily, “So, that will cause problems looking forward, because they’ll have failed to continue to maintain their status.”

Sinodis also questioned the government’s argument that claimed there was no gap in the legal status of the affected students.

“There are people detained right now because [the government was] prosecuting them as being out of status,” Sinodis said.

Elizabeth Kurlan and Pam Johann declined to comment.

Attorney Marc Van Der Hout echoed Sinodis, saying that ICE’s new policy was not enough to protect students.

“We definitely need a permanent injunction that says there should be no legal effect and to take away all the previous cancellations,” Van Der Hout said.

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