Visa records of 13 UConn students restored after being terminated last week
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The UConn campus in Storrs.
UConn informed the campus community Monday that 13 international students whose visa records were terminated from a federal system earlier this month have had their records restored.
Last week, UConn reported that the students’ Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) records were terminated. Twelve were current students and one was a recent graduate completing postgraduate training, UConn said.
Although terminating a SEVIS record does not cause a student’s visa to be revoked, it can create uncertainty about their legal status, according to the BIG Immigration Law Blog.
“We have learned that all of the impacted students at UConn have now had their SEVIS records restored by the federal government, meaning absent some other unexpected change, they should be able to resume their studies and work at UConn uninterrupted,” UConn said in a statement. “UConn continues to work to provide support for all the impacted students and will share new information as it becomes available.”
Last week, UConn said it had not received any information from the federal government about why the students’ SEVIS records were terminated. Staff became aware of the revocations through repeated audits of the SEVIS system.
There was no evidence the students were targeted due to political speech or affiliation, UConn said last week.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) uses SEVIS to manage foreign students, including those with F-1 visas.
In April, roughly 4,700 foreign students had their SEVIS records terminated, putting them at risk of deportation. Hundreds of students filed lawsuits, with many claiming they had never been charged with a crime.
On Friday, a Trump administration attorney said, in an email submitted in federal court, that some records were being restored to the SEVIS database, according to The Hill.
"ICE is developing a policy that will provide a framework for SEVIS record terminations. Until such a policy is issued, the SEVIS records for plaintiff(s) in this case (and other similarly situated plaintiffs) will remain Active or shall be re-activated if not currently active…," the email states.
International students make up a large percentage of the student body at many Connecticut universities and often pay top-dollar for their education because they are ineligible for federal aid.
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