Nine international students’ SEVIS statuses are reinstated without notice
Gaps in students’ status remain on their records
On April 25, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) reinstated thousands of international students’ statuses in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) after their unexpected termination earlier this month. While some had committed minor infractions such as violating traffic laws, others had no criminal record.
Nine MIT students or recent graduates previously had their SEVIS records revoked. Sarah McDonnell, Deputy Director of MIT Media Relations, told The Tech that all of these students’ statuses were recently reactivated.
As WBUR previously reported on April 15, one MIT student chose to sue the U.S. government over her SEVIS termination. The student, whom the complaint identified as “Jane Doe,” is a member of the class of 2025, is a citizen of China, and intended to pursue a PhD at MIT starting this fall. Her visa was previously revoked in October 2024 over a criminal charge.
However, this charge was later dismissed without a conviction, and she believed that she could remain in the country as long as her SEVIS record was active. The plaintiff alleges that the termination of her record, which occurred without advance notice from the federal government, was arbitrary and capricious.
The Tech spoke with Kerry Doyle, who is representing this student as an attorney with the immigration law firm Green & Spiegel LLC. Doyle shared that the student’s SEVIS record was reactivated on the 25th, which would allow her to apply for post-completion optional practical training (OPT) status and to obtain an I-20 form to begin her PhD program.
However, Doyle also added that this change occurred without notice. She added that for many international students, SEVIS records only showed up as active from the date they were reactivated, not retroactively, creating a brief gap in their documentation during the termination. The Tech contacted another student whose record was terminated and later reinstated to an active status. The student confirmed that the termination remains on their record.
Doyle shared that under normal circumstances, there is “only a short list of things that can cause someone to go out of status,” such as failing to register for classes or not paying tuition. When an individual falls out of status, their visa can be reinstated. However, any gap in status could create issues for students trying to change their status if their records showed they were unlawfully present in the United States for any period of time.
Green & Spiegel and the National Immigration Project are also representing the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration, which, on April 24, filed a lawsuit with several impacted students challenging the mass SEVIS terminations. At least one of the plaintiffs in this lawsuit is an MIT student.
Doyle has practiced immigration law for around thirty years and spent around three years working for the government. Nevertheless, she said that the SEVIS changes “happened so haphazardly and so quickly that nobody knew how to give people advice, because you just didn’t really know it was even happening.” Doyle advised international students to stay connected with their school’s designated offices and to not make decisions based on hearsay or information from social media. According to her, immigration lawyers believe that President Trump and his policy advisors have been upfront about their intentions and “we absolutely expect another shoe to fall.”
McDonnell said that MIT’s International Students Office and International Scholars Office have been in direct contact with students potentially at risk. She added that MIT can work with students who are unable to be in the country for an extended period of time, helping them continue their learning or research remotely.
Vivian Hir ’25 contributed to reporting on this article.
This is a developing story. If you have been affected by SEVIS terminations or reactivations, email tt-news-editors@mit.edu.