This is a welcome move considering the Trump administration’s controversial policy that sparked the termination of immigration statuses for thousands of foreign students. That decision was made following intense pushback and hundreds of lawsuits from those impacted around the country. The policy mainly affected students on F-1 visas, which included many who had just small legal violations.
In defense, the administration cited a national FBI database of encounters with law enforcement. They cited this as a reason to link students’ immigration records with low-level legal infractions. Consequently, many foreign students were left without legal status. This was frequently because of crimes such as traffic offenses, DUIs, and misdemeanor gambling offenses. This one-size-fits-all approach had disastrous consequences for students across 23 states, like Georgia, Ohio, and Arizona.
Such was the case in Georgia, where a judge intervened to guard only 133 impacted students under one lawsuit. This intervention is a positive response to escalating concerns about the detrimental effects resulting from the administration’s policy. Elika Shams, an Iranian national, is a student at the University of Connecticut. Due to her SEVIS record being terminated, she was forced to end her on-campus part-time job. Jean Kashikov, a UAA political science major originally from Alaska, fell under the canceling of his immigration record. This occurred after he was charged with allegedly trespassing on an out-of-service bus.
The policy’s critics were swift to point out how the administration’s attempts fell grossly short, downplaying the extreme impact these terminations have on individuals. They noted that thousands of students were missing class and were in grave jeopardy of not being able to pursue their careers. U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes expressed frustration at the ambiguity surrounding the students’ legal status, stating, “He’s either here legally or he’s not here legally.” She further emphasized the need for clarity, remarking, “This is not Schrodinger’s visa; either he’s here legally or he’s not here legally.”
Since April 5, we’ve seen students file more than 100 lawsuits against the administration. They make a compelling case that the terminations imperil their future in the United States. This includes judges nominated by any combination of Democratic and Republican presidents, all of whom have expressed great sympathy towards these students. As one of the sitting judges remarked, it was “Kafkaesque.” Another judge suggested the government was “not acting in good faith” and “fooling around” with the students’ lives.
On Friday, the Trump administration announced it would no longer terminate students’ records based solely on information from the FBI’s criminal record system. This reversal is an attempt to re-cancel the canceled records for those especially hurt. It shines a ray of hope on millions of students who are at risk of deportation or unable to obtain other legal immigrant statuses.
Brian Green, a representative for one of the impacted students, stated, “It’s just kind of sinking in for all those students that they’re now going to be OK. This was not decision-making. This was injustice.” The swift action by the administration signifies a crucial change in policy direction regarding foreign students’ immigration status and their future prospects in the United States.
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