The short-lived revocation of Oregon student visas by federal authorities last year sparked a court challenge that remains ongoing, a spokesperson for one of the legal advocacy groups taking up the cases said Monday, March 9.

Attorneys representing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security last summer filed an appeal to “resolve” the case. But, in a reversal, federal attorneys last month dropped the appeal without explanation. 

“Jane Doe,” a University of Oregon student from the United Kingdom, and Aaron Olaf Ortega Gonzalez, an Oregon State University doctoral student from Mexico, last May were granted preliminary injunctions by Michael J. McShane, chief U.S. district judge for Oregon.

The preliminary injunctions prevent immigration authorities from enforcing the April 2025 revocations of student visas for “Doe” and Ortega Gonzalez. Technically, federal authorities had terminated the students’ records in what’s known as the Student Exchange Visitor Information System, or SEVIS, effectively terminating their student visa status.

Some 1,500 student visas were similarly revoked in the early months of President Donald Trump’s second term in office, including four UO students. Trump administration officials within weeks backed away from the effort, however.

After “Doe” and Ortega Gonzalez filed their legal challenges, the Department of Homeland Security last summer said they had “no intention” of again revoking their visas, according to court documents filed in U.S. District Court in Eugene.

Despite the statement, attorneys for the Department of Homeland Security nevertheless filed a notice to appeal, stating that an appellate court ruling “will bind this court and would streamline, if not resolve, the issues to be litigated in this case.” 

Before the government presented any arguments, however, attorneys for the Department of Homeland Security Feb. 6 filed their voluntary dismissal of the appeal.

A spokesperson for the Portland-based Innovation Law Lab, which is representing the students, last week said the case remains pending in federal district court. In court documents, attorneys for “Doe” have said she seeks “permanent protection from future unlawful action by Defendants re-terminating her student status.”

The ACLU of Oregon is also representing the students.