Several San José State student visas were reinstated following a wave of cancellations across California State University campuses and other universities nationwide.
As of publication, Michelle Smith McDonald, San José State’s senior director of media relations, confirmed in an email to the Spartan Daily that 12 international students had their visas reinstated.
Dawn Lee, SJSU’s interim associate vice president and dean of students, has been helping students with their concerns.
“Up until the past couple weeks, students were operating under the assumption that they had to figure out what they were going to do next, ” Lee said.
She said that students had to make some very real decisions amid the chaos and confusion.
On Friday, the U.S. Department of Justice announced it would be reinstating the legal status for international students who were affected by revocations, according to a New York Times article published Friday.
This followed the termination of more than 1,800 students who lost their F-1 or J-1 visas under President Donald J. Trump’s administration, according to an Inside Higher Ed infographic.
“We’ve had students who have had their jobs terminated because their visa has been revoked,” Lee said.
Both F-1 and J-1 visas have specific requirements that a student must meet, according to a webpage from the University of California, Berkeley International Office.
Along with financial impacts, student records from the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System had been erased, according to an NPR article on Friday.
The Student and Exchange Visitor database holds student records that are used to track the progress of students, according to the same NPR article.
Parinaz Zartoshty, senior director of SJSU’s Global Programs and Services for International Student and Scholar Services, has seen the effect this has had on students.
“They (students) have been through an emotional rollercoaster and are happy now, but still fearful of any future action on their (Student and Exchange Visitor Information) record,” Zartoshty said.
An internal memo released to the Student and Exchange Visitor Program personnel showed an expanded list of criteria for ICE to terminate foreign-born students’ legal status in the U.S, according to a Tuesday NBC News article.
“Based on information we have from new sources, most of the records will be reinstated, but we are not certain why some have been left in terminated status,” Zartoshty said in an email sent to the Spartan Daily.
Some attorneys and advocates say there is a connection between the visa revocations and pro-Palestinian protests, according to an April 10 NBC News article.
Additionally, other visas seem to have been terminated because of past charges, such as DUIs, according to the same article.
In a statement sent by Smith McDonald on Friday to the Spartan Daily, the CSU has seen Student and Exchange Visitor Information accounts become active again.
“The CSU is monitoring this development and continues to provide support to impacted students,” the statement read.
Smith McDonald confirmed that across CSU campuses, 70 students have had their visas revoked.
“I am in frequent communication with all the students and especially the one whose record remains terminated,” Zartoshty said. “We have been providing continuous messaging regarding our support, as they navigate these challenging times.”
