Federal judge signals she will temporarily block attempts to revoke visas for international students

Over international college students and fresh graduates who say their immigration records have been abruptly revoked may soon have selected temporary relief In an Atlanta courtroom Thursday U S District Court Judge Victoria Calvert noted she is inclined to grant that relief I just need to figure out the contours she explained In the suit before Calvert students from universities around the country including from Georgia reported the administration of President Donald Trump and U S Immigrations and Customs Enforcement improperly cut off their Participant and Exchange Visitor Information System records or SEVIS When it was originally filed last week the episode included students and contemporary graduates seven from Georgia They attend schools including the University of Georgia Georgia Tech Emory University and Kennesaw State University Attorney Charles Kuck who represented the students disclosed SEVIS was created after the Sept terrorist attacks to track international students Losing SEVIS status would effectively end an international attendee s ability to keep studying in the U S SEVIS is kind of like the Big Brother for foreign students and if you violate any term in that you get terminated he explained But also apparently you get terminated when you don t violate any terms in it according to the new theory of ICE Kuck revealed the students weren t reported the specific reasons for their terminations Plenty of of his clients have had minor run-ins with the law including traffic offenses like speeding or driving with an expired license a DUI charge that was reduced to reckless driving or in one scenario a domestic violence charge that was later dropped for lack of evidence Specific reported they have no criminal or traffic history Kuck commented none of his clients have been accused of any infraction that would impact in loss of SEVIS under federal rules and he believes the establishment flagged his clients and others en masse using AI without any judicial review An Inside Higher Ed analysis revealed that as of Thursday over colleges around the country have published international students and up-to-date graduates who have had their legal status changed by the State Department Federal judges in other states have already issued orders to temporarily reinstate students International students make up about of the nearly students enrolled in Georgia s community colleges and universities The revocations have sparked protests including at Georgia campuses Kuck revealed multiple of the students are close to graduation and several have job offers they stand to lose out on including one as a Georgia Tech professor He reported one of the plaintiffs has attempted suicide and multiple of the others are terrified A lot of our clients are so fragile mentally emotionally they don t know what to do they re very concerned about if ICE is going to knock on their door I mean they re panicked And so we ve spent a lot of time unfortunately calming them down saying relax it s going to be okay we ve got your back you re not going to get picked up and this is all going to work out Attorney David Powell with the U S Attorney s Office argued that the students had not shown any evidence that they have suffered permanent harm He announced students should reapply for their SEVIS status and suggested that they could transfer credits and complete their studies in their home countries or in Canada He requested that any relief be narrowly tailored to allow students to finish semesters they had already paid for but not to include fresh graduates who are in the country performing optional practical training a undertaking which allows them to work in the country while waiting in the lottery for an H- B visa a foreign worker visa that allows foreign citizens with specialized skills to work in the U S or make other plans for the future The executive has until midnight Friday to file a motion in the event and Calvert could issue temporary relief shortly afterwards Calvert who was appointed to the bench in by former President Joe Biden scheduled a follow-up hearing April to consider more permanent relief The post Federal judge signals she will temporarily block attempts to revoke visas for international students appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta