In the wake of a wave of dozens of lawsuits and emergency court orders following sudden revocations of the visas of foreign students and scholars and deletion of thousands of Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) records by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) without notice or explanation, which have thrown foreign students’ lives into chaos, the agency suddenly reversed course on April 25, 2025, and restored many foreign students’ SEVIS records, along with their legal status.
The administration sent out mixed signals, however, as DHS officials were quoted as saying that this action was temporary while the agency worked on a new, unspecified policy. Tricia McLaughlin, a DHS spokesperson, said, “We have not reversed course on a single visa revocation. What we did is restore SEVIS access for people who had not had their visa revoked.” A statement from a government attorney in one of the lawsuits said, “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 and [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] will not modify the record solely based on the NCIC finding that resulted in the recent SEVIS record termination.”
Colleges and universities have had to deal with the uncertainty and other effects of these actions on their students, scholars, and programs; their ability to conduct research; and concerns about whether U.S. universities will be able to attract top talent in the future.