UW Confirms Six Students Who Had Visas Revoked Are Reinstated

A spokesperson for the University of Wyoming confirmed Monday that six international students who had their visa registrations revoked by President Donald Trump’s administration have had those documents reinstated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 

Chad Baldwin, UW spokesperson, said the school has no information yet on how the move impacts visa revocations. He also didn’t know whether those students had left or are still on campus.

The Trump administration said Friday it did not restore any visa registrations for students who had their visas revoked, which means if accurate, none of the six UW students had their visas revoked in the first place, only their registrations for visas. 

Although the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVIS)registrations being reinstated aren’t the same as the visas themselves, their deletion inherently removes a visa because it serves as a basis of record for it.

SEVIS is used to monitor foreign students in the U.S., and foreign students must maintain active status in the SEVIS database to complete their educational programs and obtain authorization to work off campus.

What’s It About?

The Justice Department announced the wholesale reversal in federal court Friday after weeks of intense scrutiny by courts and dozens of restraining orders issued by judges.

The DOJ said the move is only temporary and that Immigration and Customs Enforcement is working on a new policy regarding foreign students studying in the United States on F-1 visas.

Until that policy is issued, no students will have their online student-visa records, known as SEVIS records, terminated “solely based on” criminal history checks that had flagged misdemeanor charges and dismissed cases.

“We have not reversed course on a single visa revocation,” said Tricia McLaughlin, a Homeland Security Department spokeswoman. “What we did is restore SEVIS access for people who had not had their visa revoked.”

It’s not known whether the State Department is planning to reverse a wave of outright cancellation of the visas of many of the same students.

More than 1,500 student visas were canceled in recent weeks, according to The New York Times. A senior Department of Homeland Security official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to the Times, said the students whose legal status was restored on Friday could still very well have it terminated in the future, along with their visas.

All F-1 and J-1 records are maintained in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), a Department of Homeland Security program. The records are maintained by designated school officials at every school.

Earlier this month, UW confirmed that six to 10 international students had their visa registrations revoked.

Baldwin said all of these students were enrolled for the current spring semester but it’s unknown if they left campus as a result of the revocations.

Student Perspective

An International Studies major and the ASUW director of government at UW, Sophia Gomelsky has many international student classmates, all of whom she said are nervous about the current situation. 

“People don’t know why they’re being targeted; there’s no real reason why the international students are being targeted and singled out like that,” she said.

Although pro-Palestinian students around the country were targeted in the first wave of revocations in March, Gomelsky said international students she’s spoken to now worry they don’t have the right to make any kind of free speech against the Trump administration.

One of these students is Aseel Abu Tarboush, an international student from Jordan, studying at UW on a green card, giving her a much more secure status than students with an F-1 or J-1 visa. 

Abu Tarboush , who is of Palestinian heritage, said the ongoing revocations have prompted her to stop making political posts on social media. 

“There’s a lot going on, and I can’t post about any of it,” she said.

It’s a type of culture that reminds her of what she grew up around in Jordan.

Gomelsky said the university hasn’t revealed who the students were that had their registrations revoked. She reached out to the offices of Sens. John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis and similarly got no reply.

“We don’t really know,” she said. “Students are being kind of kept in the dark about what’s happening.” 

Abu Tarboush even said American students who look like they have certain ethnic heritage are on edge. She’s also heard rumors that Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have been on campus but hasn’t seen any personally.

Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.