Updated April 28, 2025 at 12:23 PM PDT
More than 1,500 international students across the country have been living in fear after their student visas were suddenly cancelled in recent weeks, even if they had done nothing wrong.
"The SEVIS terminations in recent weeks have created a sense of deep, deep unsettlement, deep fear across many international students, regardless of whether they've been personally affected," said Elora Mukherjee, the director of the Immigrants' Rights Clinic at Columbia Law School, in an interview with Morning Edition.
After weeks of confusion and legal battles, the Department of Justice said on April 25 it has restored, or plans to restore, the records of hundreds of students in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, or SEVIS. Without those records, students couldn't stay in the U.S., even if they were about to graduate or still in good standing with their schools
Judges in more than 50 cases had issued orders for the government to bring back those records in SEVIS. While this move gives students a temporary relief, the Trump administration says it plans to introduce a new policy for international student visa holders.
Mukherjee, who has been speaking directly with some of the affected students, warns the stakes are high.
"Right now, the United States attracts the best and brightest, most talented minds from around the world, and our country will lose out if there is deep uncertainty about whether international students can finish their programs here," she said.
NPR's Michel Martin spoke with Mukherjee about which students are affected, how widespread it is and what it means for international students in the U.S.
This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Michel Martin: Have you seen a pattern in who has been affected by this SEVIS database issue? Because it's been reported in some higher ed outlets that students who've been getting these notifications seem to come mainly from the Middle East, majority Muslim countries, and often have very minor infractions, like a traffic ticket. Is that what you're seeing?
Elora Mukherjee: Yes, what I'm seeing is that a large proportion of the students who are affected are from countries in the Middle East, from Asia and increasingly from Africa. What we've seen is that students who are affected have very minor criminal histories or nothing at all. And when I say very minor, I'm referring to things like traffic violations, parking violations, or students who literally have no idea what they have done wrong, they've never even received a summons.
Martin: So you're saying some of these are what we would call low-level offenses, but you've also seen students who, in your view, have no criminal involvement at all?
Mukherjee: That's right.
Martin: We've been hearing a lot from elite schools like Columbia and Harvard and efforts to kind of evaluate the student populations there? Is it mainly these kinds of highly visible schools.
Mukherjee: Not at all. More than 280 colleges and universities have been affected by these SEVIS terminations. And the SEVIS terminations have taken place in at least 23 states. So it's large, high-profile institutions as well as much smaller public institutions that are being affected.
Martin: I can imagine this is very upsetting.
Mukherjee: It is terrifying for international students across the country. Many have told me that they're losing sleep over this. They're missing classes. They're terrified to leave their apartments because they're worried they'll be arrested. At least five students have even left the country voluntarily after finding out that their termination has taken place.
Martin: Even students who haven't had any interaction with the law, are they feeling also concerned?
Mukherjee: Yes, absolutely.
Martin: Let's say, just for the sake of argument, that a student had a low-level offense, like a bar fight or a serious traffic incident. Some people might say, if you're going to study here, you should keep a clean record. What would you say to that?
Mukherjee: I would say that the U.S. Constitution and our laws apply to all people on U.S. soil. The federal government, the executive branch, must not simply terminate people's status without any due process of law, in violation of the law, the regulations and basic due process.
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