Some new details appear in lawsuits filed by some students who have suddenly cancelled their identities in recent weeks, with little explanation.
Over the past month, foreign students across the United States have been shocked to understand that their records have been removed from the student database maintained by immigration and customs enforcement. Some people hide because they are worried about being deported or giving up their studies and returning home.
On Friday, after a growing number of court challenges, federal officials said the government is restoring legal status as international students while developing a framework to guide future termination. In Monday’s court documents, it shared the new policy: documents released over the weekend and were cancelled under guidance of a number of reasons, including revoking their visas used to enter the United States
Brad Banias, an immigration attorney representing a student with a termination status, said the new guideline greatly extends the authority of ICE beyond the previous policy that does not regard visa revocation as a reason to lose legal status. In the past, if a student had his visa revoked, they could stay in the United States to complete their studies – if they left the country, they simply could not re-enter.
“It’s just giving them a carte blanche to get the State Department to revoke their visas and then deport those students, even if they’re not doing anything wrong,” Benias said.
Many students who have visa revoked or lost their legal status say there are only minor violations in their records, including traffic accidents. Some people simply don’t know why they are targeting.
Government lawyers provided some explanations at a hearing Tuesday, saying that Banias’ client Akshar Patel, an international student who is studying Texas’s information system. Patel’s identity was terminated – and then resumed this month, where he is seeking preliminary court rulings to prevent his deportation.
During court documents and hearings, Department of Homeland Security officials said they ran the name of student visa holders through the National Crime Information Center, a database run by the FBI that contains information related to crime. It includes the names of suspects, missing persons and arrested persons, even if they have never been charged with crime or are charged with falling.
A total of about 6,400 students were identified in the database search, U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes said at a hearing Tuesday. One of the students was Patel, who was charged in 2018 with reckless driving. The allegations were eventually deleted – the information is also in the NCIC.
Patel appears in a spreadsheet with 734 students appearing in the NCIC name. The spreadsheet was forwarded to a homeland security official who answered within 24 hours of receiving it: “Please terminate everyone in Severus.” This is a different database of foreigners with legal status in the United States
Reyes said the short time frame showed that no one reviewed records separately to find out why the student’s name appeared in the NCIC.
“If someone beats, all of this can be avoided,” said Reyes, appointed by Joe Biden. She said the government showed “a total lack of attention for individuals entering the country”.
This caused confusion and confusion when universities discovered that students no longer had legal status. University officials said in the past, legal status was usually updated after universities told the government no longer to study in schools.
In some cases, this spring, the university told students to stop working or attending classes immediately and warned them of possible deportation.
However, government lawyers say changes in the database do not mean that students actually lose their legal status, even if some students are labeled “unable to maintain status.” Instead, it was meant to be an “investigative red flag,” the lawyer said.
“Mr. Patel was legally present in the United States,” said Andre Watson of the Department of Homeland Security. “He was not immediately detained or removed from office.”
Reyes refuses to issue a preliminary injunction and urges lawyers on both sides to propose a settlement to ensure Patel can stay in the United States
