CN
14 May 2025

OAKLAND, Calif. (CN) - A federal judge on Wednesday granted a motion preventing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement from arresting or deporting 18 international students whose immigration records were suddenly deleted by the agency in April.

U.S. District Judge Jeffrey S. White also reversed the termination of their records, but said he was still deciding whether to provide the nationwide relief for thousands of international students, many of whom lost their visas as a result of ICE's actions.

"The court grants their motion for preliminary injunction but continues to weigh if it will issue universal relief," the George W. Bush appointee said.

Outside the courtroom, lawyers for the students remained optimistic that the judge would come around to a nationwide order.

"He says he's considering it," Marc Van Der Hout, who represents the students, told Courthouse News.

The judge's order affects plaintiffs in five different lawsuits filed by international students whose F-1 visas were impacted after ICE initiated an unprecedented wave of terminations. The lawsuits estimate that the records purge affected thousands of scholars in the U.S.

In the courtroom, ICE argued that the injunction was no longer necessary in light of a recent policy change where it vowed to restore students' records in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System, or SEVIS, a web-based system used by the Department of Homeland Security to track and monitor information about nonimmigrant students and exchange visitors in the U.S.

Additionally, the agency said it was affirmatively taking "further steps" to ensure that there won't be any gaps in students' immigration records and that the terminations won't be used as a reason to deny their visa status.

ICE's solution, however, did not please the students.

To this end, ICE said it is sending out a letter to all students whose SEVIS records were terminated, which they can provide to school officials asking about their immigration status and the agency's position.

The agency claims this letter will address students' concerns that records termination event is not reflected on the record and could complicate future immigration-related efforts.

The students countered that the letter was nonbinding and not a substitute for a proper injunction.

"It's just a letter. We've seen them change positions multiple times over the past month," attorney Johnny Sinodis of Van Der Hout, which represented the students, told the judge.

The judge agreed with the students and further questioned ICE about the effectiveness of the letter.

"You can see that this is not binding in any way upon the agency?" White asked ICE's attorneys.

The students argued that the government's solution is further evidence that it has taken a "myopic" view of the harm caused by its SEVIS terminations.

"Just because our plaintiffs were lucky enough to file suit before the government arrested them doesn't mean that everything's okay, your honor," Sinodis said.

The students also implicitly compared the potential due process violations to those of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland father recently deported to El Salvador, during their arguments.

"They could have been arrested immediately and deported to El Salvador, with no due process," said attorney Justin Sadowsky of the Chinese American Legal Defense Alliance, which represented the students.

After oral arguments, the judge left the room for 50 minutes while he considered his ruling, eventually issuing the preliminary injunction.

White also previewed his decision in a tentative ruling ahead of the hearing.

The judge said a written order will be issued shortly, although he didn't indicate when.

Lawyers for the U.S. Attorney's Office, which represented ICE, declined to comment on the decision.

Among the plaintiffs are four Chinese nationals attending university in the United States who sued ICE and the Department of Homeland Security, claiming the agencies violated their constitutional rights and the Administrative Procedure Act by abruptly canceling their student visas without explanation or a way to appeal the decision.

"Without notice, explanation, or any form of due process, ICE terminated the student status of individuals who have done nothing more than maintaining academic standing and complying with their visa requirements," the students said in their lawsuit.

The four students, who attend universities like Carnegie Mellon, University of California, Berkeley, and University of Cincinnati, are asking the court to restore their immigration records and F-1 visa statuses immediately, as well as those of affected foreign students nationwide.

"They have to abruptly suspend their studies (one of the plaintiffs is a month away from graduation), end housing arrangements or leases, lose employment authorization, face virtually insurmountable bars when re-entering the U.S. if they depart, and if they have any dependents, their dependents' status is also terminated," the students argue in their lawsuit.

ICE claims that the terminations were the result of the students' inclusion in the National Crime Information Center, a federal database used by law enforcement to track crime-related data.

While some students in the five related lawsuits admit they have been arrested in the past, they maintain they have never been convicted of a crime and have complied with the terms of their visas.

At a previous hearing, the students cited emails from the Department of State received by thousands of students within 48 hours of their record terminations, saying they had to leave the country because they were no longer in status.

"In fact, some of the students who were not coerced to self-deport were actually arrested," Sinodis said at the hearing, adding that there are students currently in custody because their SEVIS was terminated and that ICE has filed to stay their release.

The students received some hope in late April when White extended their temporary restraining order, but it was a short-term solution that only prevented ICE from acting on their visa status until shortly after the next hearing.

More than 1,024 students at 160 colleges, universities and university systems have had their visas revoked or their legal status terminated since March, according to The Associated Press.

This case was filed in the Northern District of California and heard at the Ron V. Dellums Federal Courthouse in Oakland, California.

Source: Courthouse News Service