ICE restoring international students’ visa registrations

(The Hill) — Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is restoring more than 1,500 foreign students’ visa registrations after multiple recent lawsuits.   

Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Sauter said in a Friday court filing that ICE told him was going to restore student records to the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), a reporting system that gives information about international students to the Department of Homeland Security.      

The message said ICE is creating a new “framework for SEVIS record terminations,” and until that occurs all student records that have been taken off will be restored to the system.   

The news was first reported by Politico after another lawyer for the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the decision in a court hearing.   

The Hill has reached out to the DOJ for comment. 

Immigration advocates are cautiously celebrating the reversal, saying cases would continue until full implementation is proven.  

“After getting sued about 50 times and losing virtually every time, ICE appears to be randomly reinstating some F-1 Student SEVIS registrations. No pattern yet, and no announcement from ICE, but check with your DSO [designated school official] and see. Lawsuits will continue until compliance is complete,” Charles Kuck, one immigration attorney, wrote on X.    

The restoration of students to the SEVIS system will be a relief to many who were unsure if they could still attend class or had to leave the country.   

But it does not seem to impact those who had their actual visas revoked and are in ICE custody, leaving individuals such as former Columbia University activist Mahmoud Khalil still in detention. 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said that hundreds of visas have been revoked as part of the Trump administration’s wider immigration crackdown.