World
India
An Indian student is part of a group of four international students studying at public universities in Michigan who have filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The students say their immigration status was suddenly terminated without any proper explanation or warning. Now, they’re turning to the courts for help.
The students—Chinmay Deore from India, Xiangyun Bu and Qiuyi Yang from China, and Yogesh Joshi from Nepal—are asking the court to reinstate their student visas so they can continue their education in the U.S.
The Role of SEVIS and What Went Wrong
The four students attended the United States using the F-1 student visa. All of these visas are tracked within a government system called the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS). SEVIS controls the international students to monitor and ensure that they comply with their visas’ particulars.
But according to the lawsuit, their records were suddenly removed from SEVIS without any explanation, effectively canceling their legal right to remain in the country. The students say this happened without them breaking any laws or doing anything wrong.
No Clear Reason Given, Says Lawsuit
The students are being represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Michigan, which has also filed an emergency request for the court to step in quickly.
“The lawsuit asks the court to reinstate the status of these students so that they will be able to complete their studies and avoid facing the risk of detention and deportation,” the ACLU said in a public statement.
The official complaint makes it clear that the students were not involved in any illegal activity or political protests.
“None of them has been charged with, let alone convicted of, any crime in the US. None has violated any immigration law. Nor have they been active in on-campus protests regarding any political issue,” the filing says.
Government Officials Named in the Case
The lawsuit directly names several top officials, including DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons, and Robert Lynch, who heads the Detroit Field Office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The students argue that their visa terminations appear to be tied to minor and lawful interactions with law enforcement, like traffic tickets or withdrawing a travel application—nothing serious enough to cancel their legal status.
“DHS did not provide the students or their schools any meaningful explanation for terminating their F-1 student status,” the lawsuit states.
Part of a Bigger Immigration Debate
This case isn’t happening in isolation. It’s one of several recent lawsuits being filed across the country that take aim at immigration policies still in effect from the Trump administration. Similar cases have already popped up in states like California, Indiana, and New Hampshire.
The ACLU is concerned about the larger impact these policies could have on international students who want to study in the U.S.
“These cruel and illegal government actions have real-life consequences,” said Ramis Wadood, staff attorney at the ACLU of Michigan.
“Status terminations don’t just disrupt the lives of the students being targeted; the government’s actions will inevitably deter future international scholars from choosing Michigan and the US as their academic destination.”
