Government Defends Itself Against Visa Revocations

The U.S. Justice Department is contending against backlash over the decision to delete records of 1,200 international students from SEVIS. Assistant U.S. Attorney Zak Toomey argues that this deletion does not equate to terminating students' lawful nonimmigrant status, emphasizing SEVIS's role as merely a database. A DHS official affirmed that the authority to revoke visas rests with the State Department, not with the SEVP managing SEVIS. This legal stance emerges as Michigan students seek urgent intervention to safeguard their educational pursuits amid these removals.

Because SEVIS is simply a database, it does not "control or even necessarily reflect whether a student has lawful nonimmigrant status."

Terminating a record within SEVIS does not effectuate a visa revocation and the authority lies with the Department of State, not SEVP.

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