Over 200 students removed from SEVIS have won court orders temporarily barring the administration from taking actions against them, according to a Reuters count, including Boston University student Carrie Zheng.
Shortly before a Friday hearing in her case, US District Judge F. Dennis Saylor said he had received an email from a lawyer from the government alerting him to a change in position by ICE.
According to that email, ICE was now “developing a policy that will provide a framework for SEVIS record terminations.” Until that policy is issued, the SEVIS records for Zheng and similarly situated plaintiffs will remain active or will be restored, the email said.
In a court filing later on Friday, the Department of Justice said the students reinstated in SEVIS comprised both those who sued the government and those who did not.
US Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin in a statement said the agency, which oversees ICE, did not reverse course on visa revocations but restored SEVIS access “for people who had not had their visa revoked.”
Saylor said that given that the reactivation of the SEVIS records for the students would take some time, he would extend a temporary restraining order he previously issued barring immigration officials from arresting or deporting Zheng.
Zheng’s lawyers did not respond to a request for comment.
