The ACLU of Michigan filed a federal lawsuit, along with a request for an emergency injunction, on behalf of four international students attending Michigan universities whose F-1 student immigration status was unlawfully and abruptly terminated by the Trump administration without valid reason or notice.
The lawsuit, filed on Thursday (April 10), seeks to reinstate those students’ status so they can complete their studies and avoid the risk of detention and deportation.
The Trump administration’s sudden revocation of visas and immigration status for hundreds of university students nationwide, including those from the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, Central Michigan University, Wayne State University, and Grand Valley State University, is the latest in a series of executive actions targeting immigrants and academic institutions.
As the ACLU’s lawsuit highlights, international students form a vital community at Michigan’s universities, and unilaterally stripping students of their status violates the law, according to the suit.
The lawsuit explains how the termination of F-1 student status violates the students’ due process rights. The government is required to provide advance notice and a meaningful opportunity to respond when taking such action.
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The lawsuit says the government must have specific legal grounds to terminate a student’s status.
“This administration continues to act as if the most basic constitutional requirements don’t apply to them.
The right to due process is one of our most fundamental constitutional rights, requiring that a person receive sufficient notice to respond and challenge a government action.
In this case, the Trump administration failed to provide any advance notification to students that they were stripping them of their student immigrant status and offered no viable opportunity to respond or challenge it.
The aim of this administration is to sow chaos and fear by attacking some people to terrorize us all.
Now, they are coming for international students who provide critical perspectives and contributions to our academic communities and, through their spending, make a major contribution to our economy.
With more than 38,000 international students receiving an education in Michigan, we will fight the administration’s efforts to isolate and divide us every step of the way.”
Loren Khogali, executive director of the ACLU of Michigan
For termination to occur, a student must fail to take full courses of study, engage in unauthorized employment, or be convicted of a violent crime.
According to the suit, none of those grounds apply to the plaintiffs in this case, whose student status was terminated by the Trump administration.
In addition to attorneys from the ACLU of Michigan, the plaintiffs are represented by cooperating attorneys from Pitt, McGehee, Palmer, Bonanni & Rivers, and Abrutyn Law.
“No administration should be allowed to circumvent the law to unilaterally strip students of their status, disrupt their studies, and put them at risk of deportation.
These cruel and illegal government actions have real-life consequences. 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 United States as their academic destination.
This will further undermine the reputation of our universities as leaders in research, innovation, and campus diversity, all of which are currently in jeopardy.”
Ramis Wadood, staff attorney at the ACLU of Michigan.
