The American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia has filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of a Marshall University graduate student who had his visa “unlawfully” revoked as part of President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
Since March, over 1,000 international students at 160 colleges and universities across the country have had their visas revoked or their legal status terminated, according to an Associated Press report. This includes students from West Virginia’s colleges and universities.
The Marshall student, identified as S.V. in a Friday news release, was one month away from graduation when his visa was revoked, according to the ACLU-West Virginia. The student received an email informing him that his F-1 visa was being revoked, and later discovered that he had been “identified in a criminal records check,” according to the news release.
S.V., a 28-year-old data science student from India, was sentenced to probation in Indiana in 2020 for driving under the influence, a misdemeanor, according to the release. He left the United States and will return in 2023 to study at Marshall.
Aubrey Sparks, legal director of the ACLU-WV, stated that being identified in a criminal record check is not a legal basis for terminating a visa.
“Our client was not convicted of a crime of violence, nor was he convicted of a crime for which the potential sentence is more than one year, meaning that he categorically is not subject to termination of his F-1 status on those grounds,” Mr. Sparks said.
According to the ACLU, S.V. disclosed the previous charge when reapplying, met all requirements, and was allowed to re-enter the country with the new visa. The student was in the process of applying for post-graduate work in the United States when he received the email that ended his visa.
According to him, the situation threw his education and career plans off track.
“I desperately want to finish my graduate degree and work in the United States,” he stated in a news release. “It is clear this wasn’t a decision based on my circumstance or experience — this was a predetermined outcome and they just said whatever needed to be said to justify it, even when it didn’t apply to me.”
The lawsuit was filed Friday in the United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia by the ACLU-WV. The complaint names Kristi Noem, secretary of the US Department of Homeland Security, Todd Lyons, acting director of US Customs and Immigration Enforcement, and Pam Bondi, US Attorney General.
Lawsuits and rallies have been held across the country in response to the revocation of student visas.
The reasons for the visa cancellations have not been specified by government officials, but US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated last month that participation in protests against Israel’s war in Gaza will not be tolerated.
“They’re here to attend class. They are not here to lead disruptive, anti-university activist movements. “I think it’s insane to continue to allow that,” Rubio stated.
In a news release, ACLU-WV executive director Eli Baumwell stated that international students and scholars are an important part of the country’s universities, economy, and communities.
“Unfortunately, it has become increasingly clear that the Trump administration is simply taking the law into its own hands in its crusade against noncitizens,” he told reporters. “Never before has a president taken such sweeping actions to revoke student visas, and that’s why we need the courts to step in and protect their rights to due process under the Constitution.”
