In a court document submitted on Monday, April 28, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) unveiled a new policy that provides reasons for recent cancellations of student visas, including having their entry visas into the United States revoked.
Many students whose visas were revoked or lost legal status claim they only committed minor infractions, such as traffic violations. Some were completely unaware of why their academic pursuits were terminated.
According to a report by The Associated Press on Wednesday, Akshar Patel, a student, had his student status terminated earlier this month in Texas while studying information systems. Patel is now seeking a preliminary court ruling to prevent his deportation.
During the court proceedings and hearing, officials from the Department of Homeland Security presented a new guidance from ICE that allows for deportation if a student’s entry visa is revoked.
Brad Banias, Patel’s immigration lawyer, stated that the new ICE guidance significantly expands its authority beyond previous policies. Previously, visa revocation was not considered grounds for losing legal status. Students could stay in the U.S. to complete their studies after visa revocation, but would not be allowed back in if they left the country.
“This gives them absolute authority to revoke the visa and deport these students, even if they did nothing wrong,” Banias told The Associated Press.
Officials disclosed that they used the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) to check the names of visa holders. NCIC is a database operated by the FBI, containing a plethora of crime-related data. However, names of individuals who were never charged or had charges withdrawn could still appear in the system.
Judge Ana Reyes, who presided over the case, revealed that approximately 6,400 students were identified through this database search. Patel, who was previously charged with reckless driving in 2018 but had the charge dropped, was among them.
Patel’s name later appeared on a spreadsheet listing 734 students who have shown up in the NCIC system. This spreadsheet was forwarded to a DHS official, who responded within 24 hours, instructing to terminate these students’ records in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), another database that tracks foreign students with legal status in the U.S.
Reyes indicated that the short processing time suggests that these records were not individually reviewed to determine why the students’ names appeared in the NCIC system.
The discovery that these students no longer hold legal status created confusion and chaos at universities. University officials mentioned that typically, they would update legal statuses only after notifying the government that students are no longer studying at the institution.
Government lawyers clarified that while some students were marked as “not maintaining status,” changes in the database do not necessarily mean they have lost legal status in reality.
Andre Watson, Deputy Assistant Director at ICE, stated that Patel is legally residing in the U.S. and won’t be detained or deported immediately.
However, the plaintiff’s lawyer sees this as raising a “red flag” for investigation.
Judge Reyes declined to issue a preliminary injunction and urged both sides to reach a settlement to ensure Patel can remain in the U.S.