Judge Blocks Detention or Revocation of Legal Status for International Students Until Their Cases are Resolved

Federal District Court Judge Jeffrey S. White issued a nationwide preliminary injunction to prohibit the federal government from revoking the legal status of international students, or arresting or detaining them due to their immigration status their cases move through courts, or transferring plaintiffs in such cases to jurisdictions away from where they live, or reversing reinstatement of their SEVIS records.

Plaintiffs in the case are foreign-born students with F-1 visas. The Student and Exchange Visitor Information System database tracks visa status and compliance of such students. Deleting a SEVIS record essentially ends a F-1 visa, making it no longer possible for the student to continue to live and work in the USA.

The government has revoked visas, SEVIS records and legal status for thousands of international students with particular focus on any who took part in political activism or faced criminal charges (not necessarily convictions) such as driving under the influence.

The government claimed it was beginning to restore statuses and develop a new method for terminating statuses, so no injunction was needed.

White did not accept the government’s stance. “At each turn in this and similar litigation across the nation, Defendants have abruptly changed course to satisfy courts’ expressed concerns. It is unclear how this game of whack-a-mole will end unless Defendants are enjoined from skirting their own mandatory regulations.”

He noted immigration officials do not suggest the targeted students threaten public safety or national security.

He also criticized the “Student Criminal Alien Initiative” which has fed the wholesale roundup of international students. White said that it highlighted that relief needed to be nationwide, not limited to the specific plaintiffs in his court.

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