International students face challenges rebuilding their lives after US reversal in visa crackdown

After the government terminated his legal status in the U.S., one student abruptly lost his laboratory job in Houston and, fearing detention, he returned to his home country in south Asia on a one-way ticket.

The Trump administration later reversed course in its expansive crackdown on international students, but there was a major obstacle. The student cannot return because his American visa was revoked.

Without it, he’s “stranded,” said the student, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.

As the government begins reinstating students’ records, many face a daunting and complicated path toward rebuilding their lives. For those who left, there is no guarantee they can return. Others have faced challenges reenrolling in school and returning to jobs.

Mental anguish from their ordeals linger, as do feelings of vulnerability. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has expanded the grounds for terminating a student’s legal status, leaving many to fear they could be targeted again.

A total of more than 4,700 international students had their permission to study in the U.S. canceled this spring, with little notice or explanation. In court hearings, Department of Homeland Security officials said they ran the names of student visa holders through an FBI-run database that contains the names of suspects and people who have been arrested, even if they were never charged with a crime or had charges dropped.

At a court hearing last week in Oakland, California, lawyers for international students sought a nationwide injunction they said would protect their clients and others across the country.

But government attorneys said that wasn’t necessary because ICE was mailing status reactivation letters to affected students. It likely will take two weeks for all students to receive their letter, which can then be shared with universities and employers, assistant U.S. attorney Elizabeth Kurlan said.

The plaintiffs’ lawyers said the letter is meaningless, arguing ICE’s new policy suggests student records can be terminated on a whim. There’s also no evidence ICE has asked the State Department to restore revoked visas, the plaintiffs’ attorneys said.

A student who left faces a long wait for another US visa

The man in Houston left within about a week of learning his legal status had been terminated. Around that time, he also received an email that the visa he used to enter the U.S. had been revoked. He believes his termination stemmed from a 2021 fraud case that was dismissed.

Over nearly a decade he had built a life in the U.S., where he was enrolled in “optional practical training,” which allows foreign students to stay and work for up to three years on their student visas. In his home country, he is now looking for work and living with his mother.

The wait time for a U.S. visa interview is at least a year, he said.

Even if he got another visa, returning would be complicated because of his financial situation. He had a car loan and credit cards in the U.S. that he can’t afford to pay after losing his job, and his credit score has since dropped, he said.

“Revoking a visa or revoking a SEVIS status does not just affect the educational side of things, it affects the whole life,” said the student, who has struggled with feelings of loneliness and also grief over his father’s recent death.

SEVIS is the Student and Exchange Visitor Information Systems database that tracks international students’ compliance with their visa status.

Students who left the country may not have known their rights or had the resources to hire a lawyer, said Ben Loveman, an immigration attorney. They now will have a harder time being reinstated, he said.

“There were huge consequences,” Loveman said.

Some students see new risk to studying in the US

For a Nepali programmer in Texas who had his status terminated, the ordeal brought up a mistake he thought he had left in the past.

The programmer, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear or retaliation, was arrested four years ago for drunken driving. He said he took responsibility for his actions, performing community service hours, serving probation and paying fines. The judge told him the records could be sealed after two years, but the case appears to explain why he was targeted by immigration authorities.

“I followed everything,” he said. “If they’re going to take it all, at least give me due process.”

His status has since been restored, and the programmer, who is on an OPT program, has gone back to his job. But the episode hasn’t faded from his mind.

If the right opportunity emerged in another country like New Zealand or Canada, he said he would take it and leave.

A student at Iowa State University who also requested anonymity out of concern about being targeted, said he is looking for options to leave the U.S., after what he describes as a “dark period.”

The Ph.D. student said his status termination pushed him to a mental breaking point. He had a plane ticket back home to Bangladesh reserved. He hardly left his apartment, and when he did, he felt he was being followed.

He attributes his termination to pending charges against him for marijuana possession, but he said he hadn’t been convicted.

After his status reinstatement, he restarted a teaching assistant job he had lost. Then, he had to catch up on grading almost three weeks of assignments for dozens of students.

While he’s relieved to get back to school, he’s confident about his decision to leave by the end of the year — either for home or Europe. The degree is not worth the risk of another status termination, he said.

“How much should I suffer to continue here?” he said.

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