US visa restored as federal court temporarily reinstates F-1 status of Dartmouth student

The federal court in New Hampshire, in an emergency hearing, said that it would temporarily restore the F-1 student immigration status of a Dartmouth College student who had his status was unlawfully and abruptly terminated by the Trump administration. This temporary block on the termination of his student status will continue until the court makes a formal ruling in his case in the coming weeks. 

The ACLU of New Hampshire and Shaheen & Gordon had filed a lawsuit on behalf of this Dartmouth College student, who had his F-1 student immigration status unlawfully and abruptly terminated with no specified reason as to why – despite having never committed a crime or traffic violation and having never participated in any protest in the United States or elsewhere. 

The lawsuit asked the court to reinstate this student’s F-1 student status, which would allow him to continue his studies.

The doctoral student, a citizen of China, is studying and researching computer science at Dartmouth College. He was informed by his college via email that his student status had been terminated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). 

The lawsuit detailed how the unlawful termination of the client’s student F-1 status violated his due process rights, as the government is required to provide him with an advance notice and a meaningful opportunity to respond. Additionally, the lawsuit stated that the government is required to have grounds in order to terminate a student’s status, and that revocation of an F-1 visa is not sufficient grounds to terminate student status.

To terminate student status, the student, for example, must fail to take full courses of study, engage in unauthorized employment, or be convicted of a violent crime. None of those situations exist in this case, thus, there is no basis to terminate his student status. 

This student status termination means that he cannot pursue his Ph.D. program and is no longer authorized to work as a research assistant. In addition to his education, research, and career trajectory being at risk, he faces the possibility of immediate detention and deportation.

Source: https://www.financialexpress.com/business/investing-abroad-us-visa-restored-as-federal-court-temporarily-reinstates-f-1-status-of-dartmouth-student-3811433/