The Trump administration reversed course on Tarrant County international students whose visas were revoked in early April.
The University of Texas at Arlington, Texas Wesleyan University and Tarrant County College learned about the change April 29, officials told the Fort Worth Report. The decision affects 27 UTA students, four TCC students and two Texas Wesleyan students.
“This remains a very fluid situation, and the UTA Office of International Education continues to work directly with all affected students to keep them updated on their individual statuses and to assist in supporting their individual needs,” said UTA spokesperson Joe Carpenter.
In a mid-April letter, Texas Wesleyan President Emily Messer told community members the university was working directly with impacted students. Even with the reversal, Wesleyan will keep in contact with students, a spokesperson said.
“We’re continuing to work with those students,” said Texas Wesleyan spokesperson Karen Cantrell. “Our international admissions team is reaching out to them to help support them.”
TCC initially had five students affected, spokesperson Reginald Gates said.
“We have communicated with each student to advise them that we once again see their SEVIS record as active,” he said.
The Trump administration reversed course last week in a court hearing.
The changes came after a slew of lawsuits were filed by current and former students who came to America on student visas. One lawsuit was brought on by two former UTA students, according to The Texas Tribune. There were minor traffic violations in some cases, and in other cases there was not an apparent reason for the revocation.
UTA has the third-highest international student population in the state, according to Open Doors.
More than 250 students in Texas had their status revoked in recent weeks.
At the beginning of April, students across Texas learned their visas were revoked or their immigration status was marked as terminated in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System database.