3 WVU students have visas restored by federal government
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (WBOY) — Three students at West Virginia University who had their student visas revoked by the Trump Administration earlier this month have now had them restored.
According to Shauna Johnson, WVU's Executive Director of Strategic Communications, the university is aware of three students who have had their information restored into the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) as of Friday afternoon. Johnson said all three attend the Morgantown campus.
12 News previously reported that a total of seven people—four students and three alumni—across the WVU system had their visas revoked. However, Johnson said that as of Friday, that number had climbed to nine total people, including three at WVU Institute of Technology in Beckley.
On Thursday, the American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia (ACLU-WV) informed 12 News that it had filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration on behalf of Sajawal Ali Sohail, a 25-year-old WVU student from Pakistan who had his visa revoked on claims that he had a criminal background.
Gov. Morrisey signs Lauren's Law in Morgantown
On Friday, ACLU-WV confirmed that Sohail was one of the three WVU students whose visa had been restored, as well as Marshall University student Shival Vyas, who was granted a temporary restraining order against the Trump Administration earlier this week.
This is positive news not just for our two clients in West Virginia, but for international students across the country. We are continuing to monitor the situation closely, particularly the announcement that ICE will be developing new policies for revoking legal statuses.
We want to be clear that the administration is backing down not because it's the right thing to do, but because they have been dragged to court repeatedly and lost again and again.
Statement from ACLU-WV
On Friday, The Hill reported that 1,500 international students will have their visas restored by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) after numerous lawsuits.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Sauter said that student records in SEVIS will also be restored, The Hill reported. He added that ICE will create a new 'framework for SEVIS record terminations,' and that in the meantime, all student records that have been removed from SEVIS will be restored.
This story has been updated to correct information provided by WVU officials.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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