Federal judge blocks Trump from revoking international students’ immigration status

Roughly 1.1 million international students were in the United States during the 2023-2024 school year. Photo / 123rf

A California federal judge on Thursday blocked the Trump administration from terminating the immigration status of foreign students, granting nationwide relief to thousands of students caught in the crosshairs of the administration’s crackdown on alleged antisemitism on college campuses.

US District Judge Jeffrey White of the Northern District of California wrote that the Trump administration “likely exceeded their authority and acted arbitrarily and capriciously” when officials terminated the legal status of students in a database overseen by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

While many courts have granted relief to individuals suing the administration, the judge’s order effectively bars the federal Government from arresting, incarcerating or transferring students in these cases and all other individuals nationwide while similar cases are still pending.

Under the Immigration and Nationality Act, international students can still have their status revoked if they provide false information to the Department of Homeland Security or if they are convicted of a violent crime with a prison term of more than a year.

“The relief the Court grants provides Plaintiffs with a measure of stability and certainty that they will be able to continue their studies or their employment without the threat of re-termination hanging over their heads,” White wrote.

A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In early April, thousands of international students and scholars across the country had their visas in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) – which colleges and universities use as proof of a student’s legal status to remain in the country – abruptly revoked amid President Donald Trump’s administration efforts to deport non-citizen students who it determines to have participated in pro-Palestinian campus protests, engaged in antisemitism or supported Hamas.

Roughly 1.1 million international students were in the United States during the 2023-2024 school year, according to federal data. The American Immigration Lawyers Association estimated that at least 4700 international students have had their SEVIS records terminated since January 20.

As weeks went by and amid mounting legal challenges to the move, DHS said it had paused terminating student SEVIS records. In many cases, judges ruled against the government, saying the argument for terminating the student files was meritless.