A US federal court has reportedly ruled that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) acted unlawfully when it cancelled the visa status of an Indian-origin student over a traffic ticket that had already been dismissed. The case centres on Akshar Patel, an F-1 student whose legal status was terminated after ICE flagged a minor, years-old speeding matter during a mass database sweep of international students. The judge said the decision was arbitrary and lacked a lawful basis, rebuking the agency for ending Patel’s student status without warning or due process and forcing him to halt his studies.
Patel is an Indian national who entered the US on an F-1 student visa and was studying at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. He is a private individual with no criminal convictions. The only incident cited by the government was a 2018 traffic case related to speeding or reckless driving that was fully dismissed.
