Washington – At first, the Immigration Lawyers Association began to receive consultations from a couple of students per day. These were foreigners studying in the United States, and they Discovered in early April His legal status had been completed with little notification. Until his knowledge, none of the students had committed a deportable crime.
In recent days, calls have begun to flood. Hundreds of students have been calling to say They have lost legal statuslooking for advice on what to do next.
“We thought it was going to be something unusual,” said Matthew Maiona, an immigration lawyer based in Boston who receives approximately six calls to the day of international students in panic. “But now it seems that it comes quite fast and furious.”
The speed and scope of the federal government’s efforts to finish the legal status of international students have surprised universities throughout the country. Few corners of higher education have not been played, since schools ranging from prestigious private universities, large public research institutions and small liberal arts schools discover status endings one after another among their students.
At least 600 students from more than 90 schools and universities have revoked their visas or their legal status completed in recent weeks, according to a review of Associated Press of university statements and correspondence with school officials. Defense groups that collect universities reports say that hundreds of students could be trapped in repression.
Around 1.1 million international students were in the United States last year, a source of essential income for registration universities. International students are not eligible for federal financial aid, and their ability to pay for often factors about whether they will be admitted to US schools. Often, they pay the full price.
Many of the students who lose their legal status are from India and China, who together represent more than half of international students in American universities. But the endings have not been limited to those of any part of the world, lawyers said.
Four students from two Michigan universities are demanding Trump administration officials after their student F-1 status was completed last week. His lawyer from the American Union of Civil Liberties, Ramis Wadood, said students never received a clear reason.
“We don’t know, and that’s the terrifying part,” he said.
The students were informed of the endings of their universities by email, which was a shock, Wadood said. The reason given was that there was a “criminal record verification and/or that her visa was revoked,” said Wadood, but none of them was accused or convicted of crimes. Some had speed or parking tickets, but one had none, he said. Only one of the students had known that his entrance visa was revoked, Wadood said.
Students have submitted similar demands in several other states, arguing that they were denied due process.
In New Hampshire, a federal judge last week granted a temporary restriction order to restore the status of a pH.D. Student at Dartmouth College, Xiaotian Liu, while challenging the revocation of his visa.
In many universities, officials learned that the legal immigration status of some international students had been fired when the personnel verified a database administered by the National Security Department. In the past, university officials say, the legal states were generally updated after universities told the government that students no longer studied at school.
The system to track the registration and movements of international students was under the control of the application of immigration and customs after September 11, said Fanta AW, CEO of Nafsa, an association of international educators. She said that recent developments have left students fearful of how fast they can be on the wrong side of the application.
“You need only a small number to create fear,” AW said. “There is no clarity of what are the reasons and how far is the scope of this.”
His group says that up to 1,300 students have lost visas or finished their status, based on universities reports.
The National Security Department and State Department did not respond to the messages looking for comments.
Foreigners who are subject to removal procedures generally receive a notice to appear in the Immigration Court on a certain date, but lawyers say that affected students have not received any notice, leaving them insecure of the next steps to follow.
Some schools have told students to leave the country to avoid the risk of being arrested or deported. But some students appealed the endings and have remained in the United States while processed.
Other trapped in legal limbo are not students at all. They had remained in the postgraduate degree in the United States in “optional practical training”, a period of one year, or up to three for science and technology graduates, which allows employment in the USA. UU. After completing an academic title. During that time, a postgraduate
Around 242,000 foreigners in the US are used through this “optional practical training.” Around 500,000 are looking for postgraduate titles, and another 342,000 are undergraduate students.
Among the students who have filed a pH.D. of Georgia Tech. Student who is supposed to graduate on May 5, with a job offer to join the Faculty. His lawyer Charles Kuck said the student was probably attended for the termination due to an unpaid traffic fine when the student lent his car to a friend. Finally, the violation was dismissed.
“We have a case after case exactly so, where there are no underlying crimes,” said Kuck, who represents 17 students in the federal lawsuit. He said his law firm has heard of hundreds of students.
“These are children who now, under the Trump administration, realize that their position is fragile,” he said. “They have taken advantage of a very vulnerable population. These children do not hide. They are in school.”
Some international students have been adapting their daily routines.
A doctorate students from China at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill said he has begun to take around his passport and immigration documents for the Council of the University of International Students of the University. The student, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of being attacked by the authorities, said she has been distressed to see the endings even for students like her without a criminal record.
“That is the most terrifying part because you don’t know if you are going to be the next person,” he said. ___
Seminera reported from Raleight, NC, and Keller reported from Albuquerque, Nm
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