Immigration Update – May 27, 2025
Headlines:
Trump Administration Versus Foreign Students: An Update – The Trump administration ordered the termination of Harvard’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification, announced a ban on all foreign student visas for study there, and ordered foreign students currently studying at Harvard to transfer or lose their right to study in the United States. A district Court temporarily blocked the ban.
Supreme Court Says Trump Administration Can Revoke Venezuelan TPS – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Trump administration can move forward, while legal proceedings continue, with revoking Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for an estimated 350,000 Venezuelans in the United States who received TPS in 2023.
E-Verify Alerts Employers About Mismatches in Social Security Information – E‑Verify announced a technical issue with Social Security Administration mismatch (tentative nonconfirmation) cases that were referred between April 9 and May 5, 2025.
DOS Announces Visa Restrictions on Travel Agency Execs for Knowingly Facilitating Illegal Immigration to the United States – The visa restrictions, on owners, executives, and senior officials of travel agencies based and operating in India for knowingly facilitating illegal immigration to the United States, is also “global and even applies to individuals who otherwise qualify for the Visa Waiver Program.”
Details:
Trump Administration Versus Foreign Students: An Update
In the latest volleys against Harvard University, the Trump administration ordered the termination of Harvard’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program certification, announced a ban on all foreign student visas for study there, and ordered foreign students currently studying at Harvard to transfer or lose their right to study in the United States. After Harvard filed a complaint, a U.S. district court judge ordered the ban temporarily stopped while litigation plays out. According to reports, foreign students make up more than a quarter of Harvard’s student body.
Also according to reports, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement recently began sending warning notices to certain F-1 students engaged in Optional Practical Training (OPT) stating that they have been enrolled in the OPT program for more than 90 days but have not reported any employment status.
The notices provide affected students with 15 days to update their Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) record. If no action is taken, the student’s SEVIS record could then be terminated to indicate that a violation of status has occurred for failure to timely report OPT employment or for exceeding the permissible period of unemployment during OPT. The notice further warns that failure to take corrective action may result in the initiation of removal proceedings.
Supreme Court Says Trump Administration Can Revoke Venezuelan TPS
On May 19, 2025, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a two-paragraph summary order that the Trump administration can move forward, while legal proceedings continue, with revoking Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for an estimated 350,000 Venezuelans in the United States who received TPS in 2023.
It was unclear when the Venezuelans would lose TPS and related work authorization.
E-Verify Alerts Employers About Mismatches in Social Security Information
On May 19, 2025, E‑Verify announced a technical issue with Social Security Administration (SSA) mismatch (tentative nonconfirmation) cases that were referred between April 9 and May 5, 2025. This includes cases involving dual SSA and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) mismatches if the employee attempted to resolve the case by visiting an SSA office but did not contact DHS. E-Verify said, “Due to this system error, some of these cases may have incorrectly received a final nonconfirmation (FNC) even after the employee took steps to resolve the mismatch at an SSA office.”
E-Verify released the following tips:
- For any cases that received an FNC after an SSA or Dual SSA and DHS mismatch, for cases referred from April 9 to May 5, 2025, employers should create a new E‑Verify case.
- If the employer has already created a new case and received an Employment Authorized result for an affected employee, no further action is needed.
- Employers may notice the status message, “E‑Verify Needs More Time,” appearing longer than usual for these cases on the Case Status page.
- Employers receiving an FNC for one of these affected cases should not take any adverse action or terminate employment based on that FNC result.
DOS Announces Visa Restrictions on Travel Agency Execs for Knowingly Facilitating Illegal Immigration to the United States
On May 19, 2025, the Department of State (DOS) announced that it is “imposing visa restrictions on owners, executives, and senior officials of travel agencies based and operating in India for knowingly facilitating illegal immigration to the United States.”
DOS said the visa restriction policy is “global and even applies to individuals who otherwise qualify for the Visa Waiver Program.”
Leave a Reply
Want to join the discussion?Feel free to contribute!