Lauren Girgis: WA international students are seeing their legal statuses get restored

Apr. 24—Some international students at Washington universities whose legal status to remain in the country was revoked by the Trump administration began seeing their statuses reinstated Thursday.

That includes at least eight students from the University of Washington and one from Seattle University, spokespeople for the schools said.

At least 35 students and recent graduates at seven Washington universities — and many more across the country — had their visas revoked in recent weeks, leading them to fear they would get deported.

In response, students filed lawsuits in federal court against the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement for what they allege were arbitrary and illegal terminations of their lawful status records in the federal database known as the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, or SEVIS.

In Washington and across the nation, federal judges broadly agreed with students’ arguments, ordering that the Trump administration reinstate the visa statuses.

The government gave little explanation for why it was terminating students’ legal statuses.

Similarly, UW spokesperson Victor Balta said the school was not given formal notification of the reinstatements by the government. At least one of the reinstatements was due to litigation the student pursued, he said. A total of 23 students and recent graduates — including two from UW Tacoma and one from UW Bothell — had their visa status revoked in recent weeks.

“We have not been given a reason for all of the reinstatements,” Balta said, adding the university was “heartened” by the news.

A spokesperson for Seattle University said one student had their status reinstated in SEVIS on Thursday. The school learned about it through daily monitoring of the database and it will “continue to closely monitor” the system for additional changes.

Jay Gairson, an attorney representing 10 students who are suing the federal government for terminating their SEVIS records, said Thursday afternoon that three of his clients notified him their status had been returned to active, even though those three students do not have a restraining order or preliminary injunction that has been granted by the courts. Gairson said there is “still plenty of damage” done by the administration that has impacted these students, like reputational harm and disruption to their studies. It’s unclear, right now, whether the courts will allow any of the lawsuits to go forward, or if the government could reterminate the same records.

Alex L., a recent graduate of UW whose status was terminated on April 8, discovered on Thursday afternoon his status had apparently been reinstated when he looked at a portal for students with temporary work authorization. Alex checked the portal after being contacted by a Seattle Times reporter.

“I’m speechless,” he said. “I don’t know what to say.”

Alex, who requested anonymity out of fear of retaliation, lost his job when his status was terminated. In addition to around $4,000 in lost income, he’s spent more than $1,000 in legal fees over the past two weeks, preparing to sue the federal government over the termination.

In court filings, students detailed learning their revocations were often based on run-ins with law enforcement, even when they were not charged with a crime, charges were dropped or they were acquitted.

Federal law states a student can fall out of legal status if that student is convicted of a crime of violence for which a sentence of more than one year may be imposed — a condition that does not seem to apply to any of the Washington students who filed lawsuits.

Generally, removal from the database effectively terminates legal status in the U.S. The federal government has argued in court filings that it has authority over the database, and said in a response to one case that it’s “speculative” whether terminations in SEVIS could lead to detainment or removal proceedings.

“U.S. attorneys are coming into court and can’t defend or explain what’s happened,” said Vicky Dobrin, a Seattle attorney representing four students who had their status terminated.

A SEVIS record is typically terminated if a student dropped below the necessary course load without approval or did unauthorized work. It is usually the university, not the government, that terminates the record. Students can then apply for reinstatement.

The Trump administration’s onslaught of SEVIS terminations has affected as many as 4,800 people. These terminations have come from the federal government rather than the students’ institutions, and instead of the government telling universities when it has terminated a student record, university staff are often finding out on their own by checking the database.

On social media Thursday evening, anxious students and recent graduates speculated about whether all records may be reactivated.

”(The government) might just be trying to brush it under the rug,” Dobrin said.

Alex said he feels slightly reassured to have legal status again. But he’s frustrated by the havoc wrought on the lives of international students like him.

“The government’s actions has just caused 16 days of absolute turmoil and turbulence in my life,” he said.

He’s part of group chats with other students on Reddit and WhatsApp. He’s heard from others that they are also seeing their status reinstated. He also knows that plenty of people have already left the country.

“It ends up costing all of these innocent people hundreds of thousands of dollars for absolute nothing,” he said. “The government has still done irreparable damage.”

For now, he’s planning to reach out to his former job to see if they’ll rehire him. But going forward, he said, he’ll always feel on guard.

Seattle Times staff reporter Paige Cornwell contributed to this story.