FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
DETROIT – The ACLU of Michigan filed a federal lawsuit today, along with a request for an emergency injunction, on behalf of four international students attending Michigan universities who have had their F-1 student immigration status unlawfully and abruptly terminated by the Trump administration for no valid reason and without notice. 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 Trump administration’s sudden revocation of the visas and immigration status of hundreds of university students across the country, including at least six public universities here in Michigan, 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 our state’s universities, and unilaterally stripping students of their status violates the law.
The lawsuit details how the termination of F-1 student status violates the students’ due process rights because the government is required to provide advance notice and a meaningful opportunity to respond when taking such action.
Additionally, the lawsuit states, the government is required to have specific legal grounds to terminate a student’s status. For that to happen, the student, for example, must fail to take full courses of study, engage in unauthorized employment, or be convicted of a violent crime. None of these 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 in the case are represented by ACLU cooperating attorneys from the law firms Pitt, McGehee, Palmer, Bonanni & Rivers and Abrutyn Law.
“This administration continues to act as if the most basic constitutional requirements don’t apply to them," said Loren Khogali, executive director of the ACLU of Michigan. “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."
“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,” said Ramis Wadood, staff attorney at the ACLU of Michigan. “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.”
Read the complaint in the ACLU’s lawsuit here.
Read the motion for emergency relief here.
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