Students and educators attend a rally at Northwestern University one week before the Trump administration said it will restore the records of international students deleted from a crucial database. That move had thrown into doubt many students’ ability to stay in the U.S. Nam Y. Huh/AP
Nam Y. Huh/AP
In a major reversal, the federal government is restoring the records of hundreds, and possibly thousands, of international students whose entries in a crucial database the government had abruptly terminated in recent weeks, a move that had complicated their ability to stay in the country.
Even before Friday’s announcement, dozens of judges across the U.S. had already issued temporary orders directing the government to restore students’ records in a database that Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, uses to monitor international students while they’re in the U.S. The database, known as the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, tracks whether they are complying with the requirements to maintain their legal status. The SEVIS database also tracks schools’ disciplinary action against students or any criminal