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An Indian student has won a legal victory against a US visa termination order. A federal judge has temporarily halted the Trump administration’s broad push to cancel international student visas by prohibiting the agency from acting against an Indian engineering student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
This legal battle sheds light on US student visa revocations and the deletion of records from the SEVIS system. The SEVIS records of hundreds of students across the country have been unexpectedly terminated. International students’ visas have been revoked in 29 states, citing a 1952 foreign policy statute, and others have been terminated for past charges like Driving Under the Influence (DUI) of alcohol or drugs.
Krish Lal Isserdasani, 21, was scheduled to receive his bachelor’s degree in computer engineering in early May, but the April 15 injunction stops the Department of Homeland Security from canceling the student visa or holding him in custody.
Federal District Judge William Conley temporarily blocked federal immigration authorities from canceling UW-Madison student Krish Isserdasani’s F-1 student visa in a ruling issued Tuesday.
When Isserdasani’s record was deleted from the government’s Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVIS) database, Madison lawyer Shabnam Lotfi filed a request for a temporary restraining order.
“He was given no warning, no opportunity to explain or defend himself, and no chance to correct any potential misunderstanding before his F-1 student visa record was terminated in SEVIS,” the order said.
Madison lawyer Shabnam Lotfi filed the request for a temporary restraining order.
“These international students have done absolutely nothing wrong,” Lotfi stated in the request. They have complied completely with the conditions of their student status and adhered to US legislation. This is not fair to them. America must denounce this injustice and prevent the Administration from slanting the facts to suit their political agenda.
Isserdasani was not found guilty of any crime, and his claim of unlawful visa termination had a “reasonable likelihood of success” in court, according to Judge William Conley of the Western District of Wisconsin, who issued the decision. He set a preliminary injunction hearing for April 28.
For foreign student visa holders whose records were canceled, the order is thought to be among the first nationwide victories.
The ruling states that Isserdasani and his friends got into a fight with another group of individuals after leaving a pub on November 22, 2024, and that he was detained on suspicion of misdemeanor disorderly conduct. According to the judgment, Isserdasani never showed up in court and Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne refused to charge him in the case.
According to the order, Isserdasani would not be able to finish his degree and apply for a program that would permit him to work while still having his student visa because of the termination.
The students’ records in the SEVIS database have been terminated, indicating that they no longer have legal status in the United States and are required to either leave the country right now or file a lawsuit to try to stay. The travel document that permits admission into the United States is the subject of Conley’s ruling that the government cannot cancel Isserdasani’s student visa.
Source: https://www.financialexpress.com/business/investing-abroad-us-visa-crackdown-faces-pushback-after-indian-students-court-win-3811369/
