NC State international students' visas restored after Trump reversal, university says
The visas of two international students at NC State University have been restored after the Trump administration initially revoked them earlier this month.
NC State spokesperson Mick Kulikowski confirmed to The News & Observer by email Tuesday that the students' records in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, or SEVIS, have been 'restored to active.'
The Trump administration throughout early April enacted sweeping terminations of immigration records for international students across the country. The actions impacted thousands of students, according to a count by Inside Higher Ed, including more than a dozen in North Carolina.
In addition to the two students at NC State, six students at UNC-Chapel Hill and six at UNC Charlotte also had their visas revoked. All of those students' records have been restored, according to reporting by The N&O and The Charlotte Observer. Two Duke University students and an alumnus were also impacted by the administration's terminations, according to the Duke Chronicle, but the outlet reported Friday that it is unclear whether their records have been restored.
The visa restorations in North Carolina and around the country come after the U.S. Department of Justice announced in federal court Friday morning that it planned to restore the statuses of the students who were impacted by those actions, as reported by Politico and other outlets.
International students are required to obtain visas to enroll and study at colleges around the United States. In addition to visas, international students are assigned records in the federal SEVIS database maintained by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
If a student's visa is revoked, it does not automatically mean they must leave the country. But if a student's SEVIS record is terminated — as the NC State students' records initially were, according to the university — they could be subject to deportation or other removal proceedings.
The two NC State students who were impacted by the visa revocations left the country after consulting with their lawyers and the embassy in Saudi Arabia, the students' home country. NC State Chancellor Randy Woodson told The N&O that both students were in 'good standing' with the university.'
NC State's Office of International Services previously said the university did not initiate the terminations.
It remains possible that the Trump administration could target visas again. Inside Higher Ed reported that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement would work to develop a framework for future terminations following the administration's reversal in court Friday.
'As this remains an evolving situation, we will continue to monitor and work with students on an individual basis as needed,' Kulikowski wrote. 'Over the past several weeks, the university has provided students with ongoing support, with the priority of helping them complete their studies.'
NC State enrolls the most international students of any school in the public UNC System and hosts the second-most international students of any university in the state, according to federal data. According to a 2024 report by the U.S. Department of State, the university enrolled more than 3,700 international students from more than 100 countries during the 2023-24 academic year, most of whom were graduate students.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
32 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Morning Bid: Tariff plot twists lose their bite
A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from Wayne Cole. Is this the dog that didn't bark? That would be the question from Sherlock Holmes fans given the utter lack of market reaction to U.S. President Donald Trump's threatened doubling of steel and aluminium tariffs to 50%. That policy shift by tweet came late Friday after markets shut, so there was some anticipation of an impact today, maybe a drop in the Canadian dollar given the scale of their steel exports to the U.S. Yet the loonie is actually firmer against a broadly softer greenback, while European share futures are off a shade and Wall St futures only modestly lower. This could be the TACO meme in action as investors assume 'Trump always chickens out', though he's leaving it late with the new higher tariff supposed to go into effect on Wednesday. Then again, last minute cliffhangers work well on reality TV. European Union negotiators weren't pleased with this latest plot twist and threatened retaliation in return, while also letting it be known that the court case decision against the April 2 tariffs gave them added "leverage". Neither does Trump's latest rhetorical attack on China seem to be working, with Beijing sticking to its guns. If Trump is counting on a call from China's President Xi Jinping to sort things out, he might be waiting by the phone for a while. It was also somewhat ironic hearing Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent complaining that China was holding back vital products from the United States, given it was the U.S. that started a trade war with the specific aim of rebuffing Chinese imports. Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller speaking in South Korea said tariffs meant there were downside risks to activity and unemployment, and upside risks to inflation. Yet he was still optimistic about the chance of "good news" interest rate cuts later this year, cementing his place as one of the more dovish Fed officials. Fed Chair Jerome Powell will speak later Monday, though limited to opening remarks to an international finance conference. Key developments that could influence markets on Monday: * UK house prices, European PMIs, U.S. ISM factory survey * Fed Chair Powell gives opening remarks at the FederalReserve Board's International Finance Division 75th AnniversaryConference, while Chicago Fed Goolsbee and Dallas Fed Loganappear in Q&A's (By Wayne Cole; Editing by Christopher Cushing)


San Francisco Chronicle
39 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
What to know about Karol Nawrocki, Poland's newly elected conservative president
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — The final result of Poland's presidential election only became clear after a long, nail-gripping night of counting as both candidates were locked in a near dead heat in the first exit polls after voting ended. Poles awakened Monday to a clear albeit close result that returns a nationalist politician to the presidency who has pledged to hinder the centrist, pro-EU government for the remainder of its term. Trump backed him Nawrocki is a 42-year-old historian who had no political experience prior to the campaign and who was not even a party member until he was tapped by the conservative Law and Justice party that governed Poland from 2015 to 2023. Nawrocki heads the Institute of National Remembrance, which embraces nationalist historical narratives. He led efforts to topple monuments to the Soviet Red Army in Poland. Russia responded by putting him on a wanted list, according to Polish media reports. Nawrocki's supporters describe him as the embodiment of traditional, patriotic values. Many of them oppose abortion and LGBTQ+ visibility and say Nawrocki reflects the traditional values they grew up with. He was also the preferred favorite of U.S. President Donald Trump, with the American conservative group CPAC holding its first meeting in Poland last week during the campaign to give him a boost. Kristi Noem, the U.S. Homeland Security Secretary and a prominent Trump ally, strongly praised him and urged Poles to vote for him. His campaign echoed themes popular on the American right. A common refrain from his supporters is that Nawrocki will restore 'normality,' as they believe Trump has done. U.S. flags appeared at his rallies. Nawrocki performed better in the first round than expected, an indication he was underestimated in the polling. Nawrocki was linked to scandals Nawrocki's quick political rise has not been without controversy, with reports linking him to underworld figures whom he met while boxing or working as a hotel security guard in the past. Nawrocki has also been linked to a scandal involving the acquisition of a Gdansk apartment from an elderly pensioner named Jerzy. Allegations suggest Nawrocki promised to care for Jerzy in return but failed to fulfill the commitment, leading the man to end up in a publicly funded retirement home. His shifting explanations raised questions about his transparency and credibility. After the scandal erupted he donated the apartment to a charity. It recently emerged that Nawrocki took part in a 2009 Gdansk brawl involving about 140 rival soccer fans, some later convicted of crimes. Nawrocki described the fight as a form of 'noble' combat. Polish media have also reported on his connections to gangsters and the world of prostitution. His critics say all of these things make him unfit to represent Poland as the head of state but many right-wing voters don't believe the allegations and accuse the media of using its power to hurt him, creating what appears to be a rallying effect around him.
Yahoo
39 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Ukraine has proved it doesn't need Trump
Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that Ukraine holds 'no cards in this war'. Well, they just played one hell of a hand. On Sunday, a clandestine drone operation hit as many as five different airfields deep inside Russian territory, striking at least eight and possibly dozens of Soviet-era nuclear-capable heavy bombers, which are today impossible to remanufacture. And the way Ukraine did so is worthy of a Robert Ludlam thriller. Its domestic security service smuggled in 150 First Person View (FPV) drones in concealed compartments on the top of multiple shipping containers, undetected by Russia's own sprawling counterintelligence organs, which were then loaded on the backs of articulated lorries and driven to within striking distance of their targets. At the push of a button, the tops of the containers popped off, allowing a swarm of lethal unmanned aerial vehicles to ascend which then struck their unsuspecting targets; lines of Russian bombers fully fueled and awaiting takeoff. The timing of this kinetic covert operation could not have been better from the Ukrainian perspective. Peace negotiations begin again in Istanbul with the Russians on Monday, even as Moscow continues to make clear it isn't interested in a 30-day ceasefire. Trump is said to be exasperated that a suddenly 'crazy' Putin won't end the war as a 'personal favour' to him and is growing weary of engaging in pointless diplomacy. But the US president has also made no statements about future security assistance to Ukraine, which badly needs three things only the US military-industrial complex can provide at scale: ballistic missile defence, GMLRS rocket artillery and howitzer ammunition. So Ukraine, it seems, is imposing its own bespoke penalties on Russia, hitting its adversary on supposedly impregnable ground and eliminating a good percentage of its irreplaceable bomber fleet. CBS News and Axios have reported that Kyiv did not inform the Trump administration of its plans, which took 18 months to pull together. This means that when Zelensky sat through that Two Minutes of Hate session delivered jointly by Trump and JD Vance in the Oval Office last February, he had this secret caper bouncing about in the back of his head. It's worth re-watching that confrontation in light of what just happened. Now, Ukraine has a much needed morale boost at a time when the war has ground down into one of attrition and Russia has launched its now annual summer offensive, which is making costly but consistent progress in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk. Ukraine's capacity to bring the war home to Russia in such a bold fashion is also likely to encourage pro-Ukrainian Republicans who are growing anxious and impatient with Trump's dithering. Lindsay Graham, the Trump-whisperer senator from South Carolina who has drawn up a range of sanctions against Russia for Mr Trump to sign off, said: 'The ever-resourceful Ukraine used creative drone warfare tactics to successfully attack Russian bombers and military assets used to kill Ukrainian citizens and destroy their country.' This operation has demonstrated that Ukraine is very much still in the fight, whatever dour statements emerge from the White House. Mr Trump, easily distracted and unfocused on his best days, has told big and small lies about the war since the beginning of his second term, all damaging to the reality and perception that Ukraine is holding its own. He has said, for instance, that 'thousands of Ukrainian troops were surrounded' in Kursk when they were not, and claimed that Russia would have taken Kyiv in 'five hours' had Russian tanks not got 'stuck in the mud'. Ukraine's drone escapades have embarrassed Mr Trump, as well as Mr Putin, it seems. Ukraine's home-grown munitions are not only changing the nature of this war, but the nature of all future wars fought in the 21st century. A nation regarded for its IT and engineering sectors has adapted ingeniously to being outgunned and outmanned by an invading army. A few hundred thousand dollars worth of FPV drones have just eliminated approximately $7 billion of Russian kit, according to the SBU. No shambolic mineral or rare earths deals had to be struck for that to happen. Ukraine is mass producing its own variegated fleet of drones at scale using both its own coffers and money from seventeen Western countries – the UK among them – part of a 'drone coalition.' Tulsi Gabbard, Trump's director of national intelligence, is said to be mulling replacing the presidential daily briefings with video segments similar to those of Fox News, in a desperate effort to get the commander-in-chief to follow along with his own nationals security prerogatives. Russian nuclear bombers burning on the tarmac is surely one way to get even his attention.