In a reversal, UK and other foreign college students have visas restored
The University of Kentucky confirmed Friday that foreign graduate students who had their visas revoked earlier this month have had their legal status to be in the country restored.
The move was part of a larger reversal by President Donald Trump’s administration to restore legal status to thousands of students who had their visas revoked in early April.
In many cases, it was not clear why certain students were targeted for visa revocation.
“I communicated with you a few weeks ago that the Department of Homeland Security revoked the F-1 student visas and/or status for a small number of international graduate students at UK,” said President Eli Capilouto in a Friday email to the campus. “This week, we learned that this decision has been reversed for those students and their status has been restored. University officials again immediately informed impacted students.”
UK has not disclosed how many students were affected.
Federal officials told a California federal judge during a Friday hearing that the administration had restored legal status to thousands of college students it had previously revoked. The lawsuit was filed by a University of Cincinnati graduate student and other Chinese students who had their visa revoked and were fighting deportation, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer.
The University of Cincinnati graduate student will be able to remain in the country, the newspaper reported.
Along with UK, the University of Louisville also reported three of its alumni had also had visas revoked. A spokesperson for the university said those visas had been reinstated.
Murray State and Campbellsville University also previously reported one student at each university has had their visas revoked. It’s not clear if those student’s visas have been restored.
It’s also not clear if the university students targeted by U.S. Immigration, Customs and Enforcement or ICE for revocation will be able to keep their legal status.
In a different federal court hearing in Boston on Friday also involving the revocation of student visas, federal officials told a federal judge that ICE was developing a formal policy to revoke legal status for thousands of foreign student visa holders, Reuters reported.
In hundreds of lawsuit filed across the country, many foreign students said they had visas revoked for minor offenses or for charges that were dismissed. Student visas can only be revoked for violent offenses, lawyers for the students argued.
In those court cases many federal judges have issued restraining orders delaying deportation or other actions against the student.
This story was originally published April 25, 2025 at 3:26 PM.
