Next steps for international students in Utah with revoked visas

SALT LAKE CITY — Dozens of international students and recent graduates at colleges and universities across Utah have received a notice from the Trump Administration stating that their visas had been revoked.

A University of Utah student confirmed they received a letter from the U.S. Department of State and the Bureau of Consular Affairs Visa Office, informing them that their visa had been revoked and their SEVIS records terminated.

“The stated reasons include ‘failure to maintain nonimmigrant status’ and/or criminal record check,” the University of Utah said.

Students at Salt Lake Community College, Utah Valley University, Utah Tech, and Snow College received similar notifications.

The notice has left some of the students in limbo.

“Those are not expired visas,” said immigration attorney Adam Crayk. “Those are all people that are on an F1 student visa, legally in the country, legally going to school, legally engaging in all the things that a student can do, who have now just all of the sudden, received a letter saying, ‘Hey, your visa is now hereby revoked.'”

 

Crayk said the students are now in legal limbo, in the United States without legal status.

Why is the Trump administration revoking student visas?

The visa revocations in Utah mirror news from college campuses across the country.  On April 4, the Associated Press reported that some international students “were being stripped of their entry visas.” By April 9, colleges and universities in dozens of states were reporting the same thing.

In some instances, the students losing their visas are alleged to have participated in pro-Palestinian protests according to reporting from ABC News.

One of the first executive orders signed by President Trump at the beginning of his second term announced measures to combat anti-Semitism. In the order, Trump said that students on college campuses were particularly prone to anti-Semitic rhetoric and possible violence. He noted that “Executive Order 13899 provided interpretive assistance on the enforcement of the Nation’s civil rights laws to ensure that they would protect American Jews to the same extent to which all other American citizens are protected.”

Why were the visas revoked?

Crayk said the students who lost their legal immigration status likely showed up in some kind of government search.

“Either from a criminal history standpoint or a violation of the terms of their visa, which is completely nebulous and doesn’t give any sort of detail,” he said.

“I mean, they’re not telling you whether or not it was a traffic offense or whatever it may have been. They’re not saying how the student visa was violated or what they did to violate the terms of their student visa. So it’s really, really vague.”

What happens to the students now?

Asylum

“If they come from a country that’s full of turmoil or unrest, they could file an asylum application seeking asylum protections within the United States,” Crayk said. If this is the path they chose, they have already completed the first step. According to The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, a person must physically be in the U.S. to seek asylum.

There are two differing types of asylum. Affirmative asylum can be sought if the student is not in removal proceedings, or involved in a hearing before an immigration judge.

Defensive asylum can be sought if the student is involved in removal proceedings.

Adjustment of status

If an international student has gotten married while in the U.S., Crayk said they can file for an adjustment of status.

According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, this is a process whereby the student “can apply for lawful permanent resident status.” This is also known as applying for a Green Card.

Voluntary departure

A voluntary departure is part of a legal proceeding, according to reporting from The Business Standard. An immigration judge will determine if the student can leave without facing a formal deportation order.

A person convicted of a serious crime is not eligible for voluntary departure. Neither is a person who has previously entered the U.S. illegally. Voluntary departure usually follows a person being detained by ICE.

Self-deport

To self-deport, a student would leave the United States without facing formal proceedings. The Department of Homeland Security describes the self-deporting method as “the safest option for illegal aliens,” which generally does not describe the college students who received notice that their visas had been revoked.

And if the students take none of these options?

If a student chooses to stay and takes none of the above options, Crayk said they’ll be labeled as a person of interest, arrested, and taken into custody.

“(Then) they’ll be transferred, typically, what happens in the state of Utah, because we do not have a nice detention facility local, they’ll be taken to either Aurora, Colorado or to Las Vegas.

They will be deported, according to Crayk, to a country where they may or may not speak the language or understand the culture.

“Let’s say they go through the process, they’re ultimately taken into custody, they don’t have any claims for relief, and the judge orders them removed or deported,” he said. 

However, Crayk said that if the students end up in custody, there will still be an opportunity to tell agents if they’d like to pursue a voluntary departure or self-deportation.

Can an attorney help?

Immigration and deportation courts are civil courts, not criminal, and attorneys are not required to be present. But Crayk said there likely are attorneys in Utah who would be happy to speak with the students, to describe their options.

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