Judges around the country had already issued temporary orders restoring the students’ records in a federal database of international students maintained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. The records had been suddenly terminated in recent weeks, often without the students or their schools being notified.

The Trump administration is backing down in a multi-state legal fight over sweeping actions taken by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement earlier this month that jeopardized and potentially terminated the immigration status of thousands of international students studying in the United States.

It’s like somebody flipped a light switch on,” said one attorney whose client had their status suddenly reversed.