A Michigan State University student, alongside nine other international students from various institutions, is suing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, arguing that his student visa record was unlawfully terminated.
The Department of Homeland Security "did not provide the students or their schools any meaningful explanation for terminating their F-1 student status," according to the complaint filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan.
The lawsuit names Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, Acting Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Todd Lyons, and Robert Lynch, the director of ICE’s Detroit field office.
The Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not respond to requests for comment. Carolyn Ann Almassian, the attorney representing all three defendants, also did not respond to requests for comment.
The lawsuit, a copy of which was obtained by The State News, comes amid the Department of Homeland Security's recent ramping up in the termination of students’ records in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS). Across the country, colleges have reported hundreds of international students’ SEVIS records being terminated for widely varying reasons.
MSU said Friday that it is aware of 12 international students whose SEVIS records were terminated, although there may be more. MSU is not being contacted by the Department of State when a student record is terminated, meaning it can’t know about a termination until the affected student contacts the university, MSU spokesperson Amber McCann said.
The students, represented by East Lansing attorney Adriana Klemish, are demanding that the court require the Department of Homeland Security to reinstate their SEVIS records or provide them with a reasonable period to maintain their statuses.
The students are not contesting the department’s revocation of their F-1 visas, which the U.S. Department of State has the legal right to do. What they are challenging is the Department of Homeland Security terminating students’ visa records within SEVIS.
The F-1 student visa refers only to the document in a foreign passport that allows an international student to enter the U.S. Typically, even if a student’s visa is revoked by the federal government, that student is permitted to continue their studies and their SEVIS record would be deleted after leaving the country.
The department’s policy guideline states that visa revocation is not a cause for termination of a student’s SEVIS record, the complaint says.
