The Trump administration is walking back its decision to revoke the visas of hundreds of international students across the country for unexplained reasons, including dozens in the St. Louis region.
This comes after several impacted international students filed lawsuits against the government this month and after some judges issued restraining orders blocking the deportation of international students. Students said their visas were wrongfully terminated.
The Department of Homeland Security informed Webster University on Monday that all 26 of its students who had their visas revoked are now reinstated and that their Student and Exchange Visitor Program records are restored. Students need access to these records to continue living and studying in the country.
Earlier this month, Webster officials stated that 20 international students at its St. Louis campus and six students at its San Antonio campus had their visas revoked and SEVIS records deleted. University officials said the Trump administration did not tell them why the students' visas were revoked.
The revocation and restoration of student visas all happened quickly, but it did not immediately impact the students, said Patrick Giblin, public relations director at Webster University.
"It had minimal impact on housing, registration and other factors," Giblin said. "Some of the students were getting ready to graduate and will still do so. Others still have housing, were able to keep up with their classes and are still enrolled."
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in March that the federal government was revoking international students' visas because many allegedly participated in pro-Palestinian campus protests last year and were a threat to national security or were participants in crimes, such as DUIs, shoplifting, trespassing or underage drinking.
Webster officials said there were no pro-Palestinian protests on their campus. There were some campus pro-Palestinian protests across the area, but it is unclear if any affected students participated in any of those protests.
Earlier this month, Lindenwood University and St. Louis University officials told St. Louis Public Radio that the federal government revoked a small number of its students' visas. Both universities currently do not have any individuals with revoked visas, and all of their impacted international students have had their SEVIS records reinstated. St. Louis Community College had one student whose legal status was affected; however, that record has been restored as of Monday.
Washington University and Southern Illinois University Edwardsville declined to update their international students' visa statuses. Earlier this month, SIUE had three undergraduate students and six graduate students enrolled in the optional practical training program who had their visas revoked. No students at the University of Missouri-St. Louis were affected.
Although the reinstatement of visas provides some relief, an attorney for the Department of Justice said Friday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement is working on a new policy that will provide a structure in which immigration status records can be terminated.
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