By University officials confirmed on Friday that international student visas had been restored to the six students affected by recent cancellations at CSULB.
In an email sent to campus administrators, Assistant Director of International Students and Scholars Mayra Serna-Gallegos confirmed that all students affected by the visa revocations have had their visa status reinstated.
The email read, “We have reached out to students accordingly and will continue to support them with any additional assistance they need to navigate this fast-moving situation. ”
Long Beach State President Jane Close Conoley confirmed the restorations in an interview on Friday.
“There was such an outcry from universities, and there was no rhyme or reason to why these students were getting their visas revoked,” she said.
Conoley said the university was not told the reasons for revocations and, in one instance, was told it was because the student had an unpaid parking ticket.
Of the six CSULB students who experienced visa revocations, one student was deported to Tokyo, Japan, at an airport in Honolulu while traveling back to California.
Conoley said there has been no word on whether or not the student who was deported will be able to return to the United States, but university officials have been working with her to allow her to take online classes and finish the year.
According to university officials, all the students have been added back to the SEVIS system, a database that tracks international students.
The recent restorations come as the Trump administration has reversed over 1,500 visa cancellations nationwide, due in part to hundreds of lawsuits spanning at least 23 states.
DOJ said that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is working on a new policy regarding F-1 visas, which is a non-immigrant visa that allows an individual to enter the U.S to pursue full-time academic studies at an accredited institution.
Of the six CSULB students who experienced terminations, four had F-1 visas.
For more contextual information on the student visa revocations at CSULB, check out this article.
Additional reporting for this article was provided by Khoury Williams.
