Three of nine Tufts international students whose Student and Exchange Visitor Information System records were terminated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement were restored to active status as of Friday morning, according to Patrick Collins, Tufts’ executive director of media relations. The university received no notice of the change in students' visa status from the government but discovered the restorations through ongoing monitoring, according to Collins.
ICE has been reactivating the visa status of international students across the country whose visas were terminated in recent weeks, a government lawyer said in federal court on Friday.
“All reactivated records are F-1 student visa holders who are alumni on post-completion OPT (Optional Practical Training),” Collins wrote in an email to the Daily.
More than 4,700 students have been removed from the SEVIS database since President Donald Trump took office on Jan. 20, according to the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
In the Friday court hearing for one of the many international students challenging the termination of their legal status, a district court judge of Massachusetts said he received an email from a government lawyer stating that ICE is “developing a policy that will provide a framework for SEVIS record terminations.” Students’ status will remain active or be restored until ICE has issued the new policy.
“We are continuing to monitor the situation. The International Center has communicated directly with all Tufts-sponsored international students, scholars, and employees,” Collins wrote.
On April 7, the university confirmed the termination of a second international student visa following the detainment of Tufts graduate student Rümeysa Öztürk on March 25. Seven post-completion Optional Practical Training participants had their SEVIS records terminated as of April 11. Read more here.