26-04-2025
Penn State student visas starting to be reinstated after reversal by Trump administration
Penn State officials have been in contact with international students whose legal status has been restored after the Trump administration reversed course Friday on sudden and controversial terminations of student visas.
A brief statement provided by the university Friday did not offer details about the number of students affected — information Penn State has declined to release previously — but said it was aware that the government has 'started reactivating' the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) status of some students who previously had that status revoked.
'Penn State Global's International Student and Scholar Advising is closely monitoring SEVIS and has been in contact with those Penn State students whose status has been reactivated,' the statement read.
Across the U.S., more than 1,000 international students had their visas or legal status revoked since late March, the Associated Press reported last week. In more than 100 lawsuits against the Department of Homeland Security — including one filed this week by a Penn State student — international students have argued that the government denied them due process by the sudden visa terminations.
The Department of Justice announced the decision to restore the student visa registrations in federal court on Friday and said Immigration and Customs Enforcement is working on a new policy for foreign students studying in the U.S., Politico reported.
In Centre County, at least 25 students had their visas revoked as of Friday, Centre County District Attorney Bernie Cantorna told the CDT. The students had not been convicted and were in diversion programs, mostly due to retail theft, the DA previously said.
That includes 21-year-old Penn State student Pradyumna Vallabhajosyula, of India, who wrote in his lawsuit this week that he was charged in January with a misdemeanor count of retail theft and entered a pre-trial intervention program two months later.
Vallabhajosyula said he received an email about his visa revocation on April 9, two days before the charge was dismissed. It warned that deportation could take place 'at a time that does not allow the person being deported to secure possessions or conclude affairs in the United States.' It also said people may be deported somewhere other than their native country.
His attorney declined to comment Friday on both Vallabhajosyula's legal status and the status of the case.
Until ICE's new policy is issued, no students will have their SEVIS records terminated due to criminal history checks that had flagged misdemeanor charges and dismissed cases, Politico reported.
Penn State first confirmed some of its international students had their lawful status revoked in early April, and Tracy Langkilde, interim executive vice president and provost, voiced support for the more than 11,500 international faculty, staff and students two weeks later in a letter to the community.
'Penn State is providing individualized support for every student we know to be impacted by this action,' Langkilde wrote. 'In every case, Penn State Global reaches out directly to the impacted student to discuss their situation and connect them with appropriate resources, whether these be legal support, academic support or counseling and mental health support. We are working with each student to provide them with tailored care to meet their needs and to honor their privacy.'
Others argued Penn State wasn't doing enough and hadn't addressed the situation soon enough, with a group of protesters marching through downtown State College on April 16 in support of immigrants and international students.
Reporter Josh Moyer contributed to this report
