Grand Theft America / Receipt power-2025-04-04-087
The State Department cancels 4,700 student visas, then retreats
The State Department and ICE abruptly terminate as many as 4,700 international students' SEVIS records and revoke visas—often over minor infractions or protest activity. Amid more than 100 lawsuits, with judges granting temporary restraining orders in at least 50 cases, DOJ reverses course in late April and restores the records, then issues a lower termination standard.
What happened
The State Department and ICE abruptly terminate as many as 4,700 international students' SEVIS records and revoke visas—often over minor infractions or protest activity. Amid more than 100 lawsuits, with judges granting temporary restraining orders in at least 50 cases, DOJ reverses course in late April and restores the records, then issues a lower termination standard.
Why it matters
When enforcement power is steered toward critics or away from allies, the law stops operating as a neutral public institution. It is tracked here under “Use deportations to target protected speech”; the classification describes the documented institutional risk, not a claim about motive.
Receipt details
- Phase 2
- Turn law enforcement inward
- Use deportations to target protected speech
