Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) decided to play a game of “Visa Whac-A-Mole,” temporarily restoring the legal status of thousands of international students after yanking it away like a magician pulling a tablecloth. But don’t get too comfy—ICE insists this is just a pit stop, and they might snatch those visas back faster than you can say “deportation notice.”
Picture this: a courtroom in Washington, where a Justice Department lawyer, Joseph F. Carilli, probably sweating under his tie, announces that ICE is hitting the reset button. They’re rebuilding student records in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) like it’s a Lego set they accidentally kicked over.
Why? Because they accidentally deleted the records of over 1,500 students, leaving them in a panic spiral. Some got the boot for minor infractions like jaywalking (okay, maybe a traffic ticket), while others were just caught in ICE’s game of “eenie, meenie, miney, moe.”
A senior Homeland official whispered that these students might not be safe yet. “Oh, sure, we gave you your status back,” they said, twirling their metaphorical mustache, “but we’re cooking up a new system to review and maybe terminate you later. Stay tuned!” It’s like telling someone they’re safe from the chopping block… for now.
The students, meanwhile, are living a real-life horror movie. Imagine waking up to find your legal right to study in the U.S. has vanished—poof!—with no explanation. Some got dinged for petty stuff, others for… well, nobody knows! It’s like getting kicked out of a party for “vibes.”
Scores of students have lawyered up, flooding courts with lawsuits faster than you can say “emergency injunction.” Judges, who seem to be side-eyeing ICE’s whole operation, keep slamming the brakes on these visa cancellations, issuing orders to stop the madness.
“We haven’t reversed a single visa revocation,” bragged Tricia McLaughlin, a Homeland Security mouthpiece, sounding like a kid who broke a vase and insists they “fixed it” by gluing one piece back on. Sure, they restored SEVIS access for some, but others? Well, a few have already fled the country, terrified of being nabbed by ICE’s deportation squad. One Cornell grad student even waved the white flag and left after giving up the legal fight. Talk about a plot twist nobody wanted.
Immigration lawyer Charles Kuck, the hero we all need, led a lawsuit and threw some shade: “It’s great ICE finally admitted they goofed, but it took losing 50 times in court. Now what about the students who lost jobs, opportunities, and their sanity?” Preach, Charles, preach.
The courts aren’t buying ICE’s slapstick routine either. Judges are raising eyebrows, questioning whether this visa purge is even legal, especially since it feels like ICE is picking names out of a hat. Back in March, the administration tried deporting students who protested against Israel during last year’s Gaza war campus demonstrations. Federal judges swooped in, halting those moves and basically telling ICE to chill.
But the chaos didn’t stop. In recent weeks, students across the country found their SEVIS records deleted, turning their dreams of degrees and research into a nightmare. By Friday evening, the government was already trying to dismiss lawsuits, claiming, “No worries, we’re restoring the records!”—like that erases the trauma. Meanwhile, other lawsuits are charging forward, including a potential class action from New England states and a Massachusetts case arguing that targeting students for pro-Palestine speech is a First Amendment no-no.
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