All UTD international students who had their visas revoked by the U.S. government earlier this month now have their visas restored, according to an April 30 email from the Office of Communications.
The restorations come in the wake of the Trump administration reversing thousands of immigration status revocations starting last week, allowing international students to continue living, working and studying in the U.S.
“The International Students and Scholars Office reports that all UTD international students who had their SEVIS … status terminated earlier this month have now had their status restored,” a spokesperson for UTD said in the email. “We have alerted affected students and will continue to communicate with them as needed.”
SEVIS, the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, is a national database listing the immigration status of international students, with a terminated status indicating a student is no longer legally allowed within the U.S. Federal agents have terminated more than 4,700 students’ statuses in the database since January, and international students have since reported technical issues accessing the database, resulting in widespread confusion about how to determine one’s status. On April 9, UTD announced that 19 students’ visas had been revoked after discovering the students’ immigration statuses were terminated in the database.
During the April 16 Academic Senate meeting, President Richard Benson said the number of revocations was in the dozens. UTD did not provide an updated figure upon request.
Students who have had their terminations reversed may face terminations again in the future, according to a Department of Homeland Security official via The New York Times.
This is a breaking news story. The Retrograde will provide more details as new information emerges.