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All students at NMs largest universities have visas restored
Students walk across the New Mexico State University Las Cruces campus.
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All students at the University of New Mexico and New Mexico State University have had their visa status reinstated after they were revoked earlier in the month, the universities confirmed to the Journal Monday.
The news from the two largest post-secondary institutions in the state comes days after the Trump administration restored some students’ access to their visa registrations that had been revoked via the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), a database the Department of Homeland Security uses to monitor international students’ status and enrollment in American universities.
Across the country, international students had their visas revoked until Friday, when the Trump administration reversed course and reinstated the status for thousands of students.
However, the measure could be temporary. The New York Times reported Friday that an unnamed DHS official said the department could terminate the visas again in the future.
While it declined to give a number of how many students were affected, UNM confirmed Monday all of those students had their visas restored. NMSU also said all nine of its students who had previously had their visa status pulled had SEVIS access restored.
At New Mexico Tech in Socorro, one student had his visa status revoked. On Friday, the student, going by the alias K.O.D., had his status reinstated two days after the ACLU filed a lawsuit against the DHS on his behalf.
His attorney, Shayne Huffman, told the Journal after getting his client a 14-day restraining order that the suit wouldn’t be dropped until there was more confirmation K.O.D.’s visa would remain in place, adding that the next step will be seeking a preliminary injunction.
