In a court filing, the Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS) admitted they were not actually revoking the legal status of visa students that their actions caused to be un-enrolled from universities around the country.
Hundreds of students have had their records terminated by DHS on SEVIS, the database that allows universities and authorities to track information about international students on visas. This led many universities to un-enroll students in belief that they lost their immigration status, with some schools even encouraging students to leave the country immediately.
“Under pressure from ICE, schools have been advising students they are out of status after SEVIS record termination, and in many cases dis-enrolling them as a result,” said Nathan Yaffe, an attorney representing international students facing deportation in other cases. “Now ICE has submitted sworn declarations that SEVIS record termination has no legal effect on the student whatsoever.”
The Intercept
Andre Watson, assistant director of the national security division for Homeland Security Investigations, clarified in a court filing today that “terminating a record in SEVIS does not terminate an individual’s non-immigrant status in the United States.“ He even said that existing laws and regulations do not provide DHS that authority.
Visas are only required for international students to enter the country legally. The revocation of a student visa is not in and of itself grounds for a student to be deported.
Even with the revocation of a visa, a student may remain in legal, non-immigrant student status while not leaving the country, meaning that a university has no legal reason to dis-enroll a student or prevent their continued study in the United States if they lose their visa.
