Litigation, the next day's anti-collateral, backtracking and large-scale chaos. As the Trump administration continues to crack down on immigration, international students find themselves at the center of a dazzling legal landscape.
This is what the Trump administration knows as it keeps trying to make legal barriers to international students’ ability to learn in the United States
Just Wednesday, a judge awarded Harvard University an extension of a ban that prevented the administration's attempt to block Ivy League schools last week.
An estimated 4,700 or more foreign-born students have been affected since the Trump administration began revoking visas and termination of legal status in March. Some were also detained in the highly anticipated cases.
Over the past two weeks, students across the country have received a national ban against the government. Some scholars have also been released from immigration and customs enforcement. At the same time, the State Council announced that it would "actively" another group of Chinese scholars aimed at national security issues.
But despite the legal losses, the federal government's efforts to target international students have doubled. On Tuesday, the Trump administration stopped scheduled new student visa interviews for those who hope to study in the United States, according to NBC News’ internal cable. Meanwhile, the State Council is preparing to expand its social media screening for applicants, the cable said.
The next day, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that the government would seek to revoke visas for Chinese students, “with connections with the Chinese Communist Party or study in key areas.”
It is unclear what “key areas” the government will look at and the types of connections to CCP are under scrutiny. The State Department referred NBC News to spokesman Tammy Bruce's comments at a press conference Thursday, Bruce said the department did not discuss details of its visa process due to privacy concerns.
“We use every tool we have to review and make sure we know who comes in,” Bruce said. “In this particular case, the United States has begun to revoke visas for Chinese students as necessary, putting the United States first.”
For months, there has been a massive confusion between schools and international students over the government’s abrupt termination of visas and status standards in the past, with little attention from students. But in late April, the Department of Homeland Security revealed at a hearing that it used the National Crime Information Center, a computer index operated by the FBI that included crime history information.
Less than twenty employees named 1.3 million foreign-born students through the index, accounting for 6,400 "hits." The agency said. From there, many students experienced termination of records in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), which maintains information about non-immigrant students and exchange visitors.
The method has been severely criticized by legal and policy experts who noted that the database relies on cities, counties, states and other sources to voluntarily report its data. This means it may not be handled in the final case, which may lead to errors in identifying students.
At another hearing in April, Justice Department attorney Elizabeth D. also told the court that ICE would restore legal status to international students, whose records were terminated until the institution developed a new framework for revocation.
Shortly thereafter, an internal memorandum of all students and exchange visitor program personnel under the jurisdiction of Ice Strip shows the institution’s standard list of termination of foreign-born students’ legal status in the United States, including “U.S. National Visa Revocation (effective immediately). The memorandum shows that while students are usually entitled to due process and defend themselves before termination of their status, the visa itself is now a reason to terminate the status.
The government has also targeted students active in the Pro-Palestine protests, including Colombian student Mahmoud Khalil and Tufts college student Rümumeysa Oztürk, who were all detained in March. Öztürk has since been released from ICE custody.
"Every time I find one of these lunatics, I take their visas," Rubio said in a press conference in March.
Students across the United States, from Georgia to South Dakota, have been winning lawsuits against the Trump administration, with judges getting along with plaintiffs and allowing them to stay in the United States
Last week, a judge issued a ban on the Trump administration from ending the legal status of international students at U.S. colleges, the first to provide relief to students across the country.
The move will force foreign students at the university (about a quarter of its student body) to transfer or lose legal status on the second day after the Trump administration terminated Harvard’s student and exchange visitor program certification – the Ivy League School sued the administration. A few hours later, the judge issued an injunction.
Other detainees except Öztürk are no longer detained, including Georgetown scholars Badar Khan Suri and Mohsen Mahdawi, permanent residents of the United States who were born and raised in a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.
The judge in Khan Suri ruled that his detention violated the First Amendment, which protected the right to freedom of speech, and the Fifth Amendment, which protected the right to due process.
Although recent national bans provide some relief, students are still susceptible to visa revocation. Legal experts say the temporary restraining order prevents the government from arresting or detaining students or terminating their legal status. But visas can still be revoked. Many hope the Trump administration can fight back.
"This is a decision by the federal district court. It's not the final decision and it seems likely that the administration will appeal the decision," said Elora Mukherjee, director of the Immigration Rights Clinic at Columbia Law School.
Mukherjee also added that Chinese international students mentioned in Rubio's new statement may also not be protected by the ban.
"What they may have claimed in courts defending this policy is that the Secretary of State and the Executive deserve respect for the offer, nameless, foreign affairs," Mukherjee said.
But as the rebound has been brewing, Mukherjee said she hopes the policy will be legally challenged, which immigration lawyers and activists believe is unconstitutional.
Legal experts say many decisions surrounding the fate of international studies are far from a decision, and foreign-born scholars should stay in the country first. She also said that if students are also eligible for other forms of relief, including asylum or other humanitarian visas, seek legal counsel.
Razeen Zaman, director of immigration rights at the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund, said it is particularly important for U.S. citizens to oppose immigration policy on behalf of foreign-born students, because many of these students may not be able to postpone themselves.
"You have to have a certain amount of resources to do this. You have to have a certain amount of connections. Some people are even too afraid to seek lawyers," Zaman said. "American citizens have the most protection. ...The reality is that even if you stop at the border, they still have to make you a U.S. citizen."
Zaman said that given the Supreme Court on Friday allowed the Trump administration to revoke temporary legal status of more than 500,000 immigrants from four Latin American countries.
"This is the First Amendment today. It is the Chinese people, CCP, whether they decide to be closely related to the Chinese government," Zaman said.