34 international students in Washington state deleted from federal database

The tally of international students in Washington state who have had their visa information deleted from a federal student database jumped to at least 34 people across the state this week. Some of those students have been able to secure legal help.

State Department officials have accused the affected students of breaking the law and said, as a result, they could be subject to visa revocation and/or deportation. Federal officials did not provide specific examples or cite evidence to back up those claims. They generally don’t comment on specific cases.

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Impacted students are left without legal status, said Kate Hellmann, director for international student and scholar services in the Office of International Programs at Washington State University.

Hellmann said WSU has recently had three student visas that have been deleted from the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System or SEVIS, the database the U.S. Department of Homeland Security uses to track visa information for educational exchange visitors and international students.

“Technically speaking, the definition of not having a SEVIS record means they're unlawfully present in the United States,” she said. “The way that that is interpreted is that they shouldn't be in the United States because they're in the United States illegally.”

In terms of what that means for students, Hellmann said it turns their whole lives upside down.

“You could be deported at any time,” she said. “So beyond being able to go to class or make use of any kind of benefits related to immigration status, you could be deported.”

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ICE has not responded to questions from KUOW about whether they plan to arrest and detain students. An ICE spokesperson said those decisions are up to the State Department.

In a court declaration earlier this week, published by The Intercept, Andre Watson, senior official in the National Security Division (NSD) of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) wrote to the court that terminating someone’s SEVIS record does not terminate that student’s nonimmigrant status in the U.S.

“Terminating a record within SEVIS does not effectuate a visa revocation,” Watson wrote.

That’s an argument being echoed at federal court in Western Washington as well.

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But the argument doesn’t add up for Jay Gairson, an attorney and professor at Seattle University representing John Doe, a student who recently had his visa revoked.

Gairson was in Tacoma at the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington Thursday evening. He said the judge wasn’t convinced by the government’s position either.

“[The judge issued] a temporary restraining order requiring the Immigration Customs Enforcement to immediately reinstate John's student status and to allow him to continue studying, doing his research, and has also enjoined the government from starting removal proceedings against him for any reason related to this case,” Gairson explained.

Gairson said hundreds of students have been impacted nationwide. He said all those cases have a common thread.

“I myself have not seen any students from Western Europe that have been terminated at this point. I haven't seen any terminated Canadians, either, but I've seen from virtually every other place in the world… ….mostly Indian, African, South American, Latin American, Asian, so Japanese, Chinese, South Korean, Thailand, Vietnam,” he said.

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Anytime someone has submitted biometrics, or been part of an investigation unrelated to the student being suspected of breaking any criminal or civil law, that student has also been deleted from the database, he said.

“It genuinely looks like the government is running a script that says, are you in SEVIS? Yes. Therefore, if you have active SEVIS status, then have you ever had your information present in any law enforcement database for any reason? [if yes] then terminate the student status,” Gairson said.

WSU’s Hellmann said the way cases are proceeding is far from normal.

“Related to whatever it might be, whether it's a DUI or something else, and they continue on with their lives and their studies, and no action would have typically been taken on their SEVIS record,” she said. “So this is a very different thing for both to see this record and the visa to be revoked in these cases.”

Gairson and other attorneys say more lawsuits are planned in the coming weeks to fight for students to stay in the U.S.