ACLU of Indiana Sues DHS Over Revoking Students’ Visa Statuses

Seven international students in the state of Indiana whose student visas were abruptly terminated by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) are suing to have their statuses reinstated and to block the Trump administration from taking any further action in the meantime, including deporting them to their countries of origin.

Six students from China attending Purdue University or Indiana University in Indianapolis, and a seventh student from Nigeria attending Notre Dame, are being represented in the lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Indiana. All seven students are “in good standing” within their respective schools, the complaint notes, meaning the termination of their visas is likely improper.

“There is no rhyme or reason for DHS’s action. To terminate an international student’s status, the U.S. government must adhere to regulatory standards and provide basic due process, which it has failed to do,” read a statement from ACLU of Indiana legal director Ken Falk.

He added:

The impact on these students’ lives is profound, and now they live in fear of being deported at any moment. We’re calling on the court to take immediate steps to stop these unlawful actions.

The department terminated the students’ F-1 visa status, the most common type of student visa in the U.S., as well as their Student and Exchange Visitor Information Systems (SEVIS) record. The federal lawsuit says that SEVIS termination must be based on students failing to maintain certain F-1 conditions, like failing to maintain a full course of study, working without prior authorization, or voluntarily withdrawing from the program.

None of the students fit any of those criteria, the lawsuit says, noting that the students were “in full compliance with the terms of their F-1 status and have not engaged in any conduct justifying termination of the status.”

When a person loses their F-1 status, it doesn’t necessarily mean they have to leave the U.S. right away. But without their information in the SEVIS database, there is no record of their lawful presence in the country, meaning they’re subject to immediate deportation.

“An F-1 visa controls a student’s entry into the country, not their continued lawful presence once admitted,” the complaint states.

The lawsuit argues that the government’s actions are unlawful due to failure to recognize the students’ Fifth Amendment due process rights, and that DHS is also in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act. The ACLU is asking the court to block any further action against the students with a temporary restraining order while the matter is being resolved.

The students do not appear to have been given a reason for why their visas were terminated. Most of those in the lawsuit have no history of committing any crime, and those who do only have small civil violations on their records.

The visa revocations come as DHS has announced that it is scouring the social media profiles of immigrants who have lawful status in the U.S. for supposed “antisemitism” — an accusation that the state is hurling at anyone who has expressed opposition to Israel’s U.S.-backed genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. It’s unclear if any of the seven students in the lawsuit had made such posts.

Hundreds of students across more than 100 universities and colleges in the U.S. have received similar notices that their visas have been suddenly revoked, forcing some to leave the country right away.

“No president should be allowed to set an ideological litmus test and exclude or remove people from our country who they disagree with,” the ACLU said in a statement earlier this month.