Visa and immigration policy: Developments following SEVIS record reactivations
The Harry S. Truman Building at the US Department of State’s headquarters in Washington, DC.
State Department photo by Mark Churms.
“Broadcast message” signals DHS SEVIS termination policy change
Notwithstanding DHS’s reactivation of SEVIS records on April 25, 2025, the government has positioned itself to resume moving against the visa holders that were identified in the “Student Criminal Alien Initiative.” Notably, the State Department declined to restore visas revoked because of the initiative, and on April 26 the Department of Homeland Security issued a “broadcast message” evidently aimed at placing the initiative on firmer policy ground. It stated:1
“[The Department of] State can consider derogatory information provided by [Immigrations and Customs Enforcement] and other US law enforcement agencies in its assessment of whether visa revocation is appropriate for an alien. When State revokes an alien’s visa with immediate effect, ICE should take steps to initiate removal proceedings.
If State revokes a nonimmigrant visa effective immediately, [the ICE Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP)] may terminate the nonimmigrant’s SEVIS record based on the visa revocation with immediate effect, as such a revocation can serve as a basis of removability under INA § 237(a)(1)(B) [8 USC 1227(a)(1)(B)].2 SEVP should not, however, terminate a nonimmigrant’s SEVIS record on this basis until it has confirmed that State has revoked the visa.”
SEVIS terminations paused but litigation and visa revocations continue
Following the reactivation of SEVIS records, some court cases were dismissed because the harms were considered resolved. However, a judge in one remaining case issued a nationwide injunction on May 22, 2025, to prevent DHS from reversing its reinstatement of SEVIS records or from attempting to deport anyone whose SEVIS record it had terminated.3
Meanwhile, the underlying issues continue to be litigated, including in the ongoing suit led by the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration. In an amended complaint, the plaintiffs in that case argue the broadcast message is evidence that record termination may well recur. They further argue the message represents an “impermissible attempt by DHS to rewrite its existing regulations that provide only limited permissible bases for SEVIS terminations,” and that the revised policy would have to go through a formal rulemaking process to be valid.4
While the SEVIS record termination campaign has so far not resumed, the State Department has continued to revoke student visas. The department reported in January 2026 that over the course of 2025 it revoked 8,000 student visas—out of more than 100,000 visas it revoked overall—with most of those revocations stemming from “encounters with US law enforcement for criminal activity.”5 Further details on these revocations remain unavailable, such as whether new revocations are still based on simple matches with the NCIC database.
References
- “Broadcast message: SEVIS notice – policy regarding termination of records,” April 26, 2025, see below.
- 8 USC 1227(a)(1)(B) “Any alien who is present in the United States in violation of this chapter or any other law of the United States, or whose nonimmigrant visa (or other documentation authorizing admission into the United States as a nonimmigrant) has been revoked under section 1201(i) of this title, is deportable.”
- Doe v. Trump, and other cases, May 22, 2025, see below.
- Presidents’ Alliance v. Noem, June 27, 2025, see below.
- Morgan Phillips, “Trump administration revokes more than 100,000 visas in first year back,” Fox News, January 12, 2026, https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-administration-revokes-more-than-100000-visas-first-year-back; and State Department, January 12, 2026, https://www.facebook.com/statedept/posts/breaking-the-state-department-has-now-revoked-over-100000-visas-including-some-8/1318049357020993/.
Documents
DHS broadcast message, April 26, 2025 (.pdf, 164 kb) Northern District of California, nationwide injunction, May 22, 2025 (.pdf, 308 kb) Presidents’ Alliance v. Noem, amended complaint, June 27, 2025 (.pdf, 521 kb)Cite this resource
AIP Policy Research, “Developments following SEVIS record reactivations,” Visa and immigration policy guide, American Institute of Physics, 2026, https://www.aip.org/research/visa-immigration/developments-following-reactivations.
Last updated
March 4, 2026