--- title: Trump Scraps Student Visa Cancellations. Here's What We Know description: The sweeping effort had jeopardized the legal status of thousands of international students in the United States. canonical: https://time.com/7280506/trump-student-visas-f1/ author: Nik Popli article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2025-04-25T18:15:56.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-11T00:26:46.423Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Scraps Student Visa Cancellations. Here's What We Know og:description: The sweeping effort had jeopardized the legal status of thousands of international students in the United States. og:url: https://time.com/7280506/trump-student-visas-f1/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt07a758ca94badfe6/6998c61425f3eef95c64493f/GettyImages-2209646078.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: Students and faculty from the City University of New York ( og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Scraps Student Visa Cancellations. Here's What We Know twitter:description: The sweeping effort had jeopardized the legal status of thousands of international students in the United States. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt07a758ca94badfe6/6998c61425f3eef95c64493f/GettyImages-2209646078.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Trump Abruptly Walks Back Student Visa Cancellations. Here's What We Know > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: September 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. 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It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=4245788b-d7f2-4cfe-a5b5-acbe9418d5a1&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1)  by [Nik Popli](https://time.com/author/nik-popli/)  ## Nik Popli Staff Writer Apr 25, 2025 6:15 PM UTC  Students and faculty from the City University of New York (CUNY) hold a rally supporting international students who have had their visas revoked by the Trump administration in lower Manhattan on April 11, 2025. Students and faculty from the City University of New York (CUNY) hold a rally supporting international students who have had their visas revoked by the Trump administration in lower Manhattan on April 11, 2025. Michael Nigro–Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images  by [Nik Popli](https://time.com/author/nik-popli/)  ## Nik Popli Staff Writer Apr 25, 2025 6:15 PM UTC After weeks of courtroom battles, student protests, and escalating pressure from universities and federal judges, the Trump Administration has reversed a sweeping effort that jeopardized the legal status of thousands of international students in the United States. The Department of Justice announced Friday that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) will reinstate the immigration records of international students whose student visa data had been abruptly terminated, often due to minor or dismissed legal infractions. The decision marks [yet another retreat](https://time.com/7262024/trump-reversals-musk-doge-usaid/) by an Administration that has made hardline immigration enforcement a centerpiece of its second term. The abrupt mass terminations earlier this month, which the American Immigration Law Association estimates impacted about 4,700 students, sent shockwaves through campuses across the country. Students were thrown into legal limbo with no notice, as their records in a system known as SEVIS (Student and Exchange Visitor Information System) were erased. That meant they were technically no longer in the country legally and at risk of detention and deportation. Some were blocked from attending classes or accessing campus resources. Others, already in precarious positions, found themselves detained or forced to self-deport. Judges across at least 23 states issued emergency orders temporarily blocking the government's actions, slamming the move as arbitrary, opaque, and potentially unlawful. Over 100 lawsuits were filed—by students, universities, and advocacy organizations—charging that the terminations violated due process and targeted students without sufficient cause. The Trump Administration’s reversal came just hours before ICE officials were expected to testify under oath in the court challenge. “ICE is developing a policy that will provide a framework for SEVIS record terminations,” a Justice Department attorney said in court Friday, according to [_Politico_](https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/25/trump-admin-reverses-termination-foreign-student-visa-registrations-00309407), signaling a temporary halt to the practice of revoking records solely on the basis of prior legal encounters. Here’s what to know about what this means for international students in the United States. ## Who’s still at risk? For many affected students, the path forward remains unclear. The widely [publicized cases](https://time.com/7272060/international-students-targeted-trump-ice-detention-deport-campus-palestinian-activism/) of Rümeysa Öztürk and Mahmoud Khalil, for example, which are both entangled in broader national security and foreign policy debates, reflect the ongoing ambiguity surrounding the Administration’s intent. Öztürk, a Tufts University doctoral student, was detained in Massachusetts after ICE agents confronted her on the street. Her F-1 visa had been quietly revoked days earlier, allegedly for “activities in support of Hamas,” though her attorneys say the real reason was her outspoken support for Palestinian rights. Khalil, a permanent U.S. resident and pro-Palestinian activist at Columbia University, faces deportation proceedings following a State Department order stripping him of his green card—a dramatic escalation in a campaign that critics say is as political as it is legal. While the government’s reversal applies to students with “minor” or “dismissed” legal infractions—such as traffic violations or dropped charges—it remains unclear whether cases like Öztürk’s or Khalil’s fall under the Trump Administration’s reversal. ICE retains authority to terminate a student’s record for national security concerns or other violations of immigration law. The State Department, which separately revoked many student visas, did not respond to a request for comment on whether those cancellations are being reversed as well. ### ICE’s quiet expansion of campus control The origins of the mass terminations of student visas remain murky. Students from across the country have [reported](https://www.ap.org/news-highlights/spotlights/2025/visa-cancellations-sow-panic-for-international-students-with-hundreds-fearing-deportation/#:~:text=Ultimately%2C%20the%20violation%20was%20dismissed,like%20her%20without%20criminal%20records.&text=Seminera%20reported%20from%20Raleigh%2C%20N.C.,coverage%20areas%20at%20AP.org.) learning of their status loss only through school administrators or attorneys. Several said they were never arrested or even aware of any charges. Traditionally, it has been universities, through designated officers, who notify SEVIS of changes in a student’s status. Under the Trump Administration, ICE has begun taking more direct control, in what immigration lawyers describe as a dramatic shift. Though ICE and the State Department have framed the actions as necessary to protect national security and uphold immigration law, critics argue the crackdown fits into a broader pattern: pressuring universities to conform to Administration priorities including limiting political dissent. Just this year, Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned that students engaging in pro-Palestinian activism could face visa revocations for allegedly undermining U.S. foreign policy. The campaign has drawn comparisons to the post-9/11 surveillance of Muslim students and scholars, though with new digital tools. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7280506/trump-student-visas-f1/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7280506/trump-student-visas-f1/"},"headline":"Trump Abruptly Walks Back Student Visa Cancellations. 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