WORLD NEWS
More than 130 international students across the United States have filed a federal lawsuit against the Trump administration, accusing the government of unlawfully cancelling their visas, which has left them vulnerable to arrest, detention, and deportation.
The lawsuit, initiated by 17 students on April 11 in Georgia, has now expanded to include 116 additional plaintiffs. The students claim that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency improperly revoked their status in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) database, effectively invalidating their visas without just cause or explanation.
The case was filed amid the Trump administration's broader immigration crackdown, which has increasingly targeted foreign students, among other groups. The lawsuit is particularly concerning for international students, as it raises fears that they could be detained or deported due to administrative errors or vague justifications for the visa terminations.
In their complaint, the students argue that the cancellations were arbitrary and often occurred without any specific reasoning. For instance, one of the plaintiffs, a Chinese citizen pursuing a doctoral degree in engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, was informed that his visa had been revoked following a criminal background check. The student believes the termination was linked to a minor traffic violation that had already been resolved, with no other criminal history to his name.
Another plaintiff, an Indian national studying at the New York Institute of Technology, claimed that his visa was revoked despite being found not guilty of a shoplifting charge, which had been dismissed.
The students also allege that the cancellations occurred amid increasing pressure from the federal government on universities, with threats of cutting off billions of dollars in federal funding if they do not comply with various demands. As the lawsuit points out, the terminations not only put the students at risk of deportation but also threaten their future ability to re-enter the U.S.
The lawsuit names key figures in the Trump administration, including U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons. The plaintiffs are seeking the reinstatement of their revoked visas and damages for the distress and harm caused by the cancellations.
The situation has caused widespread panic across U.S. college campuses, with students fearing that they could be next. The lawsuit represents a growing concern about the treatment of international students in the current political climate, which many view as increasingly hostile to foreign nationals.
As the legal battle unfolds, it highlights the challenges international students face in a climate of uncertainty, where immigration laws are changing rapidly, and students' futures are being jeopardized by bureaucratic decisions.
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