Visas reinstated for all University of Arkansas' international students who had status revoked
All five international students at the University of Arkansas who had their visa status revoked last month have been reinstated, a university spokesperson confirmed Thursday.
At least 1,024 students at 160 colleges, universities and university systems had their visas revoked or their legal status terminated in March and April, according to a review by The Associated Press.
The Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) is a database used to track and monitor schools, exchange visitor programs and certain designations of nonimmigrants while they study in the U.S. education system, according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The terminations of records in the database were challenged in more than 70 lawsuits across the country. The federal government reversed course on Friday, April 25, when a government attorney announced in a hearing that students' terminated records would be restored while the government adopts a formal policy for revoking records in SEVIS.
John Thomas, the UA's director of media relations and core communications, said Thursday that all five students who had their SEVIS records terminated have now been restored to active status.
'We learned that the students' SEVIS records had been reinstated over the course of a few days starting last week,' Thomas said.
UA officials have not identified the students or stated why their status was revoked. The university had 1,214 foreign students as of April 25, according to a Spring 2025 enrollment report.
An internal memo filed in court by the Justice Department Monday indicates an expansion of power for ICE regarding international students' legal status, NBC News reported.
The memo to all Student and Exchange Visitor Program personnel shows an expanded list of criteria for ICE to terminate international students' status. According to the document, visa revocation would now be grounds for terminating students' status.
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