While the Trump Administration has reversed its course of revoking international student visas by restoring the student visa registrations of more than 1,500 international students, students are still concerned about what the future holds.
Earlier this month, visa terminations affected thousands of international students across the nation. The Trump Administration reversed its decision on April 25.
According to the New York Times, over 100 lawsuits were filed by students, universities and advocacy organizations, charging that the terminations violated due process and targeted students without sufficient cause.
The terminations sparked panic among the students as their records in the immigration system, the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, were erased. That meant they were technically no longer in the country legally and at risk of detention and deportation.
After being faced with lawsuits from many different schools that challenged the abrupt cancellations, the Department of Justice announced on April 25. They will reinstate the immigration records of international students whose student visa data had been abruptly terminated due to minor or dismissed legal infractions.
Executive Director of International Education Tara Braun shared her thoughts on how she believed that the system worked.
“I’m imagining they were able to just pull a list, put it into the immigration system, and it just terminated all these records because they had some kind of think like you’ve done something to have gone to the police station,” Braun said.
This means that anything on the record that shows signs of going to the police station or filing a report will be under investigation.
With the thought of something like a parking violation or a minor report, students are becoming worried, like biotechnology junior Prasanna Maharjan, an international student from Nepal.
“I feel scared to be honest,” Maharjan said. “I’m scared to drive at this point because I don’t want to get into something.”
Maharjan plans on graduating next year, but he believes that finding an internship will be difficult.
International students are eligible to work in the United States legally for two to three years based on the academic program they graduated from. All students in the Optional Practical Training program have already been approved by the immigration system.
“I’m currently applying for internships. I feel like the way people are being international students, I would say companies are kind of retreating,” Maharjan said. “They’re kind of avoiding them, because the way how the media how the whole administration is kind of pushing an agenda.”
International students not only have to adjust to a new culture and provide the proper documents, but they also have to adjust to a new way of living away from home and experiencing the American Classroom.
These students must continue to remain cautious as they have to continue to maintain their regulations.
If the visa is terminated or expired, students still hold a service record administered by the school that guarantees they went through the process. The student still holds approval status inside the immigration system, and the record is valid.