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Administration officials said Friday they were pausing efforts to revoke visas held by international students. Four UO students who had their visas revoked can stay in the United States for now.
The Trump administration said Friday it was pausing efforts to cancel more than 1,500 visas held by international students — including four students at the University of Oregon.
In a court hearing in Washington, D.C., a lawyer with the U.S. Department of Justice said immigration officials were working on a new system to review and terminate student visas. While work on that system continued, the lawyer said, agencies would not pursue the revocations, The New York Times reported.
The four students at UO had their visas revoked without advance notice, university officials have said. All four are in good academic standing.
Eric Howald, assistant director of issues management at UO, said in an email that as of noon Friday, three of the four students have had their visas reactivated. University officials expected the fourth student’s visa status to be reactivated as part of the federal action.
Howald added that all four students, working with legal counsel, have found other “pathways to remain” in the United States legally.
The students hold F-1 visas, a nonimmigrant visa that allows international students to study in the United States. When the visa is revoked, students are required to leave the country within 15 days unless they have another legal pathway for staying.
In the cases of the four UO students, Howald said the “federal government revoked the visa status of students who appeared in criminal records checks without regard to the nature of the allegations or the students’ alleged involvement.”
The students now will be able to resume work.
“The university appreciates that its international students and others will have the opportunity to continue their studies at UO before setting out to contribute productively to both the U.S. and their home societies,” Howald said.
He added that UO officials “will continue to communicate with students, faculty and staff as concerns arise.”
The university has 796 students from more than 90 countries on active F-1 visas, although not all are currently enrolled in classes.
The Friday announcement came in the wake of individual lawsuits filed by students challenging their revocations, including at least one filed by a UO student identified in court records only as “Jane Doe.”
U.S. District Judge Michael J. McShane in Eugene issued a 14-day temporary order Monday reinstating the visas of the UO student and a student at Oregon State University and blocking federal immigration authorities from removing either one from the United States or Oregon.
In a statement, the legal teams for the ACLU of Oregon and Innovation Law Lab legal teams, which are representing some Oregon students, said they welcomed the development but will press on in court.
“We are pleased to hear that students nationwide may have their status restored,” the teams said in a joint statement. “Students should not have to rely on courts to make sure federal officials are playing by the rules, yet this administration has forced them to seek judicial intervention time and time again. This news does not deter us from continuing to seek permanent relief for our clients in court.”
A senior Department of Homeland Security official told The New York Times Friday that the administration might still move forward to terminate the student visas.
Lookout Eugene-Springfield reporter Ben Botkin contributed to this story.
