Visa status restored for some NM students, for now

Weeks after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) began eliminating the registration of thousands of international student visas across the country, the Department of Justice announced Friday those registrations would be reinstated.

The move by the Trump administration restores students’ access to their visa registrations via the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), a database DHS uses to monitor international students’ status and enrollment in American universities.

“We have not reversed course on a single visa revocation,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement to the Journal on Friday. “What we did is restore SEVIS access for people who had not had their visa revoked.”

The agency did not respond to questions on how many New Mexico students’ visa registrations had been revoked or restored.

In New Mexico, at least several students had their visas revoked: nine at New Mexico State University, one at New Mexico Tech and an unspecified number at the University of New Mexico.

“The recent decision to restore thousands of international students’ records in the SEVIS is a welcome development for our campus community and higher education nationwide,” UNM President Garnett Stokes wrote in a statement. “We recognize that some uncertainty remains, and we will continue to advocate for clear, just, and transparent processes.”

While the visa status of students has been restored, the measure could be temporary. The New York Times reported that an unnamed DHS official said the department could terminate the visas again in the future.

“Checks of the SEVIS database show that there does appear to be a change in status for some individuals whose visas were previously revoked,” Minerva Baumann, spokesperson for NMSU, said in a text. “At this time, NMSU is closely monitoring the situation and hopes to be able to provide more clarity on this in the coming days.”

She said she could not share how many students had their SEVIS access restored.

On Wednesday, the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico filed a lawsuit against DHS on behalf of a 38-year-old Ph.D. student from Ghana, who appeared to be the only student at New Mexico Tech to have his visa pulled. On Friday, the student, who is listed under the alias K.O.D. in court documents, was granted a 14-day restraining order.

His attorney, Shayne Huffman, confirmed Friday that his client’s SEVIS status was restored but added that the suit wouldn’t be dropped until there was more confirmation K.O.D.’s visa would remain in place.

He added that the next step will be seeking a preliminary injunction, a more permanent measure, to keep K.O.D. in the country.