The federal government reinstated the immigration statuses for an unspecified number of the 10 Georgetown University community members whose statuses were previously terminated, according to an update posted on a university webpage April 28.
The update did not identify which of the 10 community members had their statuses reinstated. The website said the federal government did not provide a reason for the terminations or information on why the government reinstated the statuses.
A university spokesperson did not provide an exact number of community members whose status was restored, saying the university would communicate updates through the web page.
“We are aware that many of the community members who have previously had F-1 or J-1 status terminations in the federal Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) have seen their status reactivated,” the spokesperson wrote to The Hoya.
Georgetown and other institutions monitor the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVIS), a web service for universities, students and the federal government to track international students’ immigration statuses since the federal government does not directly notify universities of individual updates.
The update comes four days after President Donald Trump’s administration temporarily restored the status of hundreds of international students across the country. The federal government’s policy shift followed multiple lawsuits challenging the legality of the Trump administration’s actions.
Nader Hashemi — director of the Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding (ACMCU), a research center fostering interreligious dialogue — said while he is glad some community members regained their statuses, international students still feel threatened, noting that the Trump administration could change its policy again without notice.
“Trump’s authoritarian agenda still wins because fear of arrest or deportation will still linger,” Hashemi wrote to The Hoya. “Trump’s goal is to depoliticize our campuses, especially on the question of Palestine.”
“The fear remains,” Hashemi added.
The policy change does not affect Badar Khan Suri, the ACMCU postdoctoral researcher who has been in federal immigration custody since March 17. The federal government is holding Khan Suri under a separate provision of federal law that allows U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio to identify individuals who pose “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.”
Hashemi said Khan Suri’s detainment demonstrates that the federal government remains committed to undermining legal rights for immigrants and international scholars.
“Badar has been arrested on the ludicrous claim by Marco Rubio that his presence in the USA undermines US foreign policy,” Hashemi wrote. “He continues to rot away in an ICE detention center in south Texas.”