Wyden, Merkley, Colleagues Demand Trump Administration Halt Illegal Student Visa Revocations
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, both D-Ore., said today they have joined Senate colleagues to demand the Trump Administration stop its illegal slashing of student visas.
After learning federal agencies have been revoking student visas and terminating Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) records across the country in violation of existing laws and policies that protect students’ status, the senators demanded the Trump Administration fully reverse its actions after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) began to reinstate these visas.
“[S]tudents across the country—who by all accounts appear to have followed all of the applicable laws and agency guidance—have reported visa revocations with no clear explanation as to the basis to terminate status,” the senators wrote in a letter to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons.
“Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) has completed at least 4,736 total terminations of student visa holders’ Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) records. By DHS’s own admission, the statute and regulations do not provide SEVP the authority to terminate nonimmigrant status by terminating a SEVIS record. Your decision to reverse such terminations is therefore prudent and required by law,” the senators wrote.
The lawmakers also noted that current laws, regulations, and agency guidance require notice to be provided when a student’s status is being terminated or revoked. “Students who have entered through our legal immigration system and followed the law remain unsure of what, if any, steps they may take to maintain their status and safeguard themselves from immigration enforcement,” the senators wrote. “While we are relieved that ICE has reversed these SEVIS terminations, we now urge you to undo other actions to end student status that are inconsistent with such laws, regulations, and agency guidance. Finally, we understand that you are contemplating additional actions to end student status. Any such changes must be consistent with applicable statutes, including requirements for notice with respect to changes that would deprive a student of their status and ability to live and study in the United States and place them at risk of detention.”
The letter was led by Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. In addition to Wyden and Merkley, the letter was signed by U.S. Senators Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., Michael Bennett, D-Colo., Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., Lisa Blunt Rochester, D-Del., Cory Booker, D-N.J., Chris Coons, D-Del., Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., Tammy Duckworth, D-Ill., Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., Mazie Hirono, D-Hawai’i, Tim Kaine, D-Va., Mark Kelly, D-Ariz., Andy Kim, D-N.J., Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., Patty Murray, D-Wash., Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., Alex Padilla, D-Calif., Jack Reed, D-R.I., Jacky Rosen, D-Nev., Bernard Sanders, I-Vt., Brian Schatz, D-Hawai’i, Adam Schiff, D-Calif., Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., Tina Smith, D-Minn., Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., Mark Warner, D-Va., Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Peter Welch, D-Vt., and Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I.
Full text of the letter is here.
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