It was in end-March last year, that TOI broke the story of international students waking up to emails from US agencies of their F-1 visa revocation and/or termination of SEVIS records.
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A year later, a US district court (Massachusetts) allowed a lawsuit challenging the mass revocation of international student visas and termination of SEVIS records to move forward. This development could have major implications for foreign students (At 3.63 lakh, Indian students were the largest contingent as per the Open Doors Report for 2024-25) and for American education institutions.
Judge Patti B. Saris, rejected the Trump administration’s attempt to dismiss the case filed by the Presidents’ Alliance on Higher Education and Immigration (Alliance) and the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in Massachusetts (AICUM). The groups are contesting policies that led to thousands of visa revocations, especially during March-April last year.
According to the court order, immigration authorities ran the names of about 1.3 million international students through a criminal records database, resulting in roughly 6,400 matches, including students with minor infractions such as speeding tickets or no criminal history. Visas were then revoked in bulk and SEVIS records terminated, sometimes without prior notice to students or their universities.
The lawsuit alleges that the US Department of State (DOS) revoked visas based solely on database matches, without individual review, and that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) terminated SEVIS records using the same criteria. Although many SEVIS records were later restored, the revoked visas were not reinstated, and the court noted that the government has not ruled out using similar termination policies in the future.
The district court allowed the core claims to proceed, including challenges to: DOS’s policy of revoking student visas based on database matches without individualized assessment; the policy of the Department of Homeland Security of terminating SEVIS records based on those revocations and database hits; and ICE’s policy guidance authorizing such terminations of SEVIS records without notice-and-comment rulemaking. The district court dismissed only one limited claim related to communications sent to students by DOS, finding that those communications did not constitute final agency action.
In a statement, the Presidents’ Alliance and AICUM said the decision ensures that the legality of the government’s actions will be examined in court.
The court’s decision allows this important case to move forward so that the unlawful revocation of student visas and termination of SEVIS records can be fully reviewed, the organisations said, adding that the policies created fear and uncertainty for students and education institutions alike.
