The federal government reversed its termination of over a thousand international students’ legal status on April 25. All three Shoreline Community College (SCC) students who had their status revoked have since had it restored as of April 27.

International students’ legal status is tracked through a tool called the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), which is run by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The students whose status had been removed weren’t informed directly and instead became aware after their schools checked SEVIS. This is significant, as a visa is only used for re-entering the country, while SEVIS status is what allows students to stay for their education.

An email updating everyone was sent by the college on May 2nd: “We’re writing to share an important update: all three international students previously affected by recent SEVIS terminations have had their F1 status restored. We discovered this through our internal checks of the SEVIS system, as we have not received any direct notification from federal agencies.”

In an article published Apr. 25 by the Connecticut Mirror, a center-leaning newspaper that focuses on political issues, it states, “Many [students whose SEVIS status was revoked] said they had only minor infractions on their record or did not know why they were targeted. Some left the country while others have gone into hiding or stopped going to class.”

The federal agencies involved have not issued a public explanation for the terminations. In the meantime, Shoreline College continues monitoring SEVIS to ensure student records remain accurate.