US restores visa registrations of foreign students

In a sigh of relief for overseas students, the Trump administration said on Friday that it is restoring the student visa registrations of potentially thousands of foreign students in the United States whose legal status had recently been abruptly terminated.

The decision was announced during a court hearing before a federal judge in Boston who was hearing a challenge by one of the many international students nationally suing over the administration's actions.

Those students status had been revoked as a result of their records being terminated from a database of the approximately 1.1 million foreign student visa holders, putting them at risk of deportation.

Since Trump took office on January 20, records for more than 4,700 students have been removed from the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement -maintained database known as Student and Exchange Visitor Information Systems, according to the American Immigration Lawyers Association.

The database monitors compliance with visa terms and records foreign students' addresses, progress toward graduation and other information. To remain in the database, student visa holders have to obey conditions like limits on employment and avoiding illegal activity.

Shortly before Friday hearing in Boston University student Carrie Zheng's case, US District Judge F Deniss Saylor said he had received an email from a lawyer from the government alerting him to a change in position by ICE.

According to that email, ICE was now "developing a policy that will provide a framework for SEVIS record terminations." Until that policy is issued, the SEVIS records for Zheng and similarly situated plaintiffs will remain active or will be restored, the email said.