HONOLULU (Island News) -- Following several days of uncertainty involving international students, there is some relief.
The Trump administration has reportedly restored the student visa registrations of many students studying in the United States who had minor, and in numerous cases, dismissed legal infractions. Some had no offenses according to reports.
The move will reportedly 'reinstate' those in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, also known as SEVIS.
In the meantime, approximately five University of Hawaii - Manoa students recently had their visas revoked.
Salmah Rizvi, ACLU Hawaii Executive Director told Island News, "The Department of Justice did in fact say they would be restoring terminated visas of students who had there F1 of J1 student visa status revoked."
An anonymous DHS spokesperson provided a statement to ABC News including, "We have not reversed course on a single visa revocation - what we did is restore SEVIS access for people who had not had their visas revoked."
"I hope those students did not prematurely flee, for fear of deportation, which other students across the nation had already done. There was already harm despite the reversal of the administration's step. Some people already reacted to that and did not wait for the unveiling of what the courts were going to be saying these last few days. So right now I would echo to those students that they should absolutely feel safe," said Rizvi.
Foreign students, including those with multiple citizenships could potentially continue facing obstacles.
Rizvi stated, "Fears still exist, even United States citizens are in fear. People who have been to pro Palestinian activist rallies are fearing that they're being targeted or on some list, even if they're holding dual citizenships. I would really encourage folks to try to place a little bit of faith and hope in our judicial branch to be able to provide a proper check and balance against the administration at this moment."
Leading up to Friday's announcement, UH Chief Global Officer/Law Professor Brent White said, "We can provide (students) with individualized support and assistance by understanding their circumstances, what exactly they're worried about."
Full article can be found at: https://www.kitv.com/news/controversial-termination-policy-of-student-vi...