‘Unilateral, unlawful’: Indian, Chinese students unite to sue Trump administration over F-1 visa revocations

Three Indian students, along with two Chinese students, have sued the Donald Trump administration in the US for revoking their F-1 visas, a report said on Sunday.

According to a HT report, the lawsuit accused the Department of Homeland Security and other immigration officials of “unilaterally terminating the F-1 student status of hundreds, if not thousands, of international students”.

What the lawsuit said

The lawsuit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), termed the revocation cases as “unilateral and unlawful termination”. It also alleged that the students are not only facing immigration detention and deportation, but also going through “severe financial and academic hardship”, the report added.

The students have alleged that they are unable to obtain their degrees and work in the Optical Practical Training (OPT) programme after graduation. It also said that the US government did not give the required notice before terminating their lawful and legal student visa status.

“Plaintiffs and proposed class members have maintained their student status by making progress toward completing their course of study, not engaging in unauthorized employment, and not having any conviction for a crime of violence for which a sentence of more than one year imprisonment may be imposed,” the lawsuit claimed.

Who are the three Indian students

The lawsuit has been filed by Indian students Linkhith Babu Gorrela, Thanuj Kumar Gummadavelli and Manikanta Pasula, and Chinese nationals Hangrui Zhang and Haoyang An.

In the petition, Gorrela claimed that his graduation date is May 20. However, due to this sudden cancellation of his F-1 visa status, he will neither be able to obtain his degree or work under the OPT programme.

Thanuj and Pasul have only semester left in their Master's programme but since the decision, their graduation is unlikely, unless the court intervenes, the report added.

One of the two Chinese students, Hangrui Zhang, claimed that his research assistantship, now cut off because of the termination of his F-1 student status, was his only source of income.

On the other hand, Haoyang An has said in the petition that he will have to abandon his Master’s programme despite having already invested $329,196 in his education in the United States.

US State dept's warning to students

The US Department of State spokesperson Margaret McLeod on Saturday warned international students attempting to go against US laws, saying that “those who violate the law will face the consequences.”

In a virtual interview with PTI, MacLeod said the Trump administration was rigorously enforcing immigration laws, including the Immigration and Nationality Act and the Alien Registration Act.

"If you follow the law, America offers opportunities. But those who violate the law will face the consequences," MacLeod told PTI on a question related to the issues faced by Indian students in various US universities.

US judge blocks Indian student's deportation

A US federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration from deporting a 21-year-old undergraduate Indian whose student visa was cancelled, on April 16.

Krish Lal Isserdasani has been pursuing a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison with an F-1 student visa since 2021.

Court documents said that “having maintained full-time enrollment and good academic standing, Isserdasani is now in the final semester of his senior year with less than 30 days remaining until an expected graduation on May 10, 2025," PTI reported.

(With inputs from agencies)