The Trump administration is backing down in a multi-state legal fight over sweeping actions taken by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement earlier this month.
The policy jeopardized and potentially terminated the immigration status of thousands of international students studying in the United States.
In dozens of cases across the country, international students have sued the administration over ICE’s move to cancel immigration records of those students that are used by schools to track whether the students are meeting the requirements of their educational visas.
The move appeared to have the effect of terminating the students’ immigration status. In court hearings, however, Justice Department attorneys had refused to answer judges’ questions about whether the administration actions were having that effect.
On Friday morning, the Trump administration informed courts and lawyers for the students that it was changing its posture. It did so as judges were getting ready to put ICE officials on the stand to question them about the administration’s actions.
According to the statement from the Justice Department, the student records in question – known as SEVIS records – were being reinstated for the students who have sued the administration over the terminations. The statement said that “ICE is developing a policy that will provide a framework for SEVIS record terminations.”
The cases had revealed that ICE was justifying the records terminations for students who had an alleged “criminal history,” but included students who were arrested and never charged, or who had their charges dismissed.
The resolution of these disputes will not affect the Department of State’s cancellation of student visas.
