International students across the United States continue to face uncertainty amid court cases challenging visa and status revocations.
President Donald Trump’s administration has revoked approximately eight thousand student visas since the start of his second term, many of which were revoked without warning. Beginning in April, students had their statuses terminated in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System — a change that, according to Inside Higher Ed, is “technically distinct from from revoking a student’s visa but can have similar impacts on a student’s ability to continue studying in the U.S.”
At least eleven of the revocations were individuals affiliated with UMass Boston. Citing a policy change, the government reversed the April revocations, including all of the ones at UMass Boston, after dozens of students filed lawsuits challenging them.
Many of the revocations or status changes appear to have been unwarranted. U.S. District Judge William G. Young ruling in September that the punishment of pro-Palestinian activists was “ideologically motivated” and a violation of the First Amendment. He sided with various activist organizations who claimed the publicized detention of students like Mahmoud Khalil served as an intimidation tactic to goad other international students into silence.
However, in Khalil’s case, deportation is still a potential threat. A court ruled in favor of Trump’s administration Jan. 15 and reversed a previous lower court decision that removed him from immigration jail, claiming the New Jersey judge who made said decision did not have the authority to do so. Khalil must work through immigration courts before continuing in federal court, a decision that means he could be detained again in the future. While Khalil has yet to be detained again or charged with a crime, his pro-Palestine activism has caused the Trump administration to label him a danger.
Legal proceedings are still ongoing for a Babson College student who was detained Nov. 20 at Logan Airport. On her way home for Thanksgiving, freshman Any Lucia Lopez Belloza was sent to Texas before being deported back to her home country of Honduras. Despite a court order that she stay in the U.S. — and an apology from a Trump administration lawyer that admits the order was violated by mistake — she remains there. A federal judge ruled Jan. 16 that the government must provide Belloza with a student visa so she can return to the U.S.
Further proceedings could be complicated by the fact that an immigration judge ordered Belloza and her mother to be deported in 2016. Belloza has since stated that her attorney told her there was no removal order, and she “never would have tried to fly home in November if she’d known about it.”
As the new semester starts and these cases develop, international students are under increasing pressure. An increase in Immigration and Customs Enforcement presence in Boston only amplifies the fear. Current UMass Boston international students can consult International Student and Scholar Services from the Office of Global Programs, with additional resources available for undocumented students.
