A wave of legal action is sweeping across the United States as dozens of international students, many attending prestigious institutions fight back against the abrupt cancellation of their visas by the Trump administration.
At the heart of the lawsuits is a common charge: the U.S. government stripped students of their legal status without due process.
The sudden revocations have put hundreds of students in legal limbo, facing possible detention or deportation, AP reported. The affected scholars hail from schools both elite and modest—from Harvard and Stanford to the University of Maryland, Ohio State, and smaller liberal arts colleges scattered across the country.
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The lawsuits, filed against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), claim the federal government acted without proper cause or explanation in terminating the legal residency of students who had complied with their visa terms.
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While student visas can be revoked for various infractions, universities argue that students are being penalized for issues as trivial as old traffic violations. In many cases, students say the rationale behind their status termination remains a mystery.
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Attorneys for the ACLU of Michigan, representing students from Wayne State University and the University of Michigan, stated in their complaint: “The timing and uniformity of these terminations leave little question that DHS has adopted a nationwide policy, whether written or not, of mass termination of student (legal) status.”
The legal pushback gained momentum last week when a federal judge in New Hampshire granted a restraining order in favor of Xiaotian Liu, a Dartmouth College computer science student from China whose visa had been abruptly revoked. Similar challenges have since been filed in federal courts in Georgia and California.
The crackdown has drawn even more scrutiny in high-profile incidents, including the detention of Columbia University student activist Mahmoud Khalil. The Trump administration has justified some deportations based on alleged ties to pro-Palestinian demonstrations. However, universities insist that most affected students have had no involvement in protests and that the terminations appear indiscriminate.
“What you’re seeing happening with international students is really a piece of the much greater scrutiny that the Trump administration is bringing to bear on immigrants of all different categories,” said Michelle Mittelstadt, director of public affairs at the Migration Policy Institute.
International students must meet rigorous requirements to obtain an F-1 visa, including securing admission to a U.S. school, proving financial support, and completing interviews at U.S. embassies or consulates. Once in the country, their legal status is maintained by the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) under DHS, not by the State Department, which only issues entry visas.
Recently, university administrators learned of visa terminations through SEVIS, the federal database overseen by SEVP. In a break from precedent, DHS had updated student statuses without prior coordination with schools, which historically served as the point of notification when a student was no longer enrolled.
Previously, students with revoked entry visas were still permitted to remain in the U.S. to complete their studies; the revocation merely prevented them from reentering the country after travel. But now, with their legal residency status stripped, students face immediate risk of arrest and deportation. Some have already chosen to leave the U.S. voluntarily rather than face the possibility of being detained.
University officials fear the growing number of arrests and terminations could deter future international applicants from choosing the U.S. for higher education.
“The uncertainty is creating a climate of fear,” said Sarah Spreitzer, vice president of government relations at the American Council on Education. “The very public actions being taken by ICE and DHS—removing students from their homes or off the streets—are deeply troubling. This level of rapid enforcement hasn’t typically been applied to revoked student visas unless there’s a clear security threat.”
In the face of rising anxiety, many schools have issued campus-wide messages urging international students to remain vigilant, carry their immigration documentation at all times, and avoid travel if possible. At the same time, they are pressing federal agencies for clarity.
Marcelo Suárez-Orozco, chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Boston, acknowledged the gravity of the moment. In an email to the campus community, he confirmed that two students and five recent graduates participating in training programs had lost their legal status.
“These are unprecedented times, and our normal guiding principles for living in a democratic society are being challenged,” Suárez-Orozco wrote. “With the rate and depth of changes occurring, we must be thoughtful in how we best prepare, protect, and respond.”
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