The Trump administration on Friday announced that it will reinstate student visa records for an undisclosed number of international students whose legal status was changed over the last few weeks, potentially including impacted students and recent graduates throughout Texas.
By Friday afternoon, officials at the University of Texas in Austin confirmed "multiple visa reactivations" in the SEVIS database, which is used to track the legal status of international students in the U.S. Officials at Texas Woman's University also confirmed reactivations, according to the Denton Record-Chronicle.
The reversal was disclosed by the U.S. Justice Department in court filings on Friday as part of several lawsuits filed by impacted students. According to the court filings, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is developing a new policy for international students. In the meantime, student visa records — known as SEVIS, or Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, records — will not be terminated “solely based on” flagged criminal background checks like misdemeanors or cases that were later dismissed.
International students are allowed into the U.S. with F-1 visas. This information is tracked through the SEVIS database. If an F-1 student violates any rules, their SEVIS record can be terminated, meaning their legal status in the U.S. is effectively revoked.
The court filing also states that student visa records would be reactivated for hundreds of international students or graduates who filed lawsuits after having their legal status changed. As of Friday, it was not immediately clear if the reversal would be granted to those who did not take legal action against their visa revocation.
According to Inside Higher Ed, at least four lawsuits have been filed by seven students or recent graduates at Texas universities.
According to data compiled by Inside Higher Ed and Texas Newsroom partners around the state, more than 350 international students and recent graduates in Texas had their legal status changed by the U.S Department of State over the last few weeks. They’re among more than 1,800 people nationwide who had their visas revoked.
This number includes at least 170 impacted students throughout the University of Texas System, at least 23 international students and recent graduates at Texas A&M University and 27 students at the University of North Texas, among others. However, the estimated impact is likely an undercount, as many universities declined to provide specifics to journalists.
Texas has an outsized population of international students – among the largest in the country – with more than 76,000, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
The wave of revocations came as part of the federal government’s crackdown on student activism at campuses. In March, Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters that the federal government would revoke the visas of students who participate in any movement that vandalizes or causes disruptions on university campuses.
More than a hundred people at UT Austin were arrested last year after students erected encampments in support of Palestinians amid the ongoing war in Gaza. Similar demonstrations happened at Texas A&M and at UT Dallas, where at least 20 people were arrested.
