By Sofia Beers, Molly Houser and Amanda Fulton MSU EXPONENT
New information has emerged regarding the lawsuit surrounding the visa statuses of two MSU international students.
On Monday, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) responded to an American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Montana lawsuit by filing a motion to dismiss a temporary restraining order (TRO) granted by Federal Judge Dana Christensenfor the District of Montana.The DHS claims the two graduate students had their Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) status terminated — not their F-1 visas, as initially reported — due to criminal charges against them in Bozeman.
However, the ACLU of Montana maintains that neither plaintiff has been convicted of any crime. According to the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, a nonimmigrant’s admission and continued stay in the U.S. prohibits “…the commission of crimes of violence and for which a sentence of more than one year imprisonment may be imposed, regardless of whether such sentence is in fact imposed.”
The ACLU of Montana has confirmed that it will file its response to the DHS’s allegations on Friday.
“We stand by our claims set forth in the complaint, including the fact that neither plaintiff has been convicted of any crimes,” said Akilah Deernose, executive director of the ACLU of Montana.
The DHS has not responded to the Exponent’s multiple requests for comment.
Keri Brehm Legget, acting public affairs officer with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Great Falls, said in an email to the Exponent on April 23: “Our office cannot comment beyond what is in the public record.”
MSU informed the three international students via email on April 10 that their F-1 visa status had been revoked and that they were expected to leave the country immediately, according to the ACLU of Montana. On Wednesday afternoon, Vice President of University Communications Tracy Ellig maintained that MSU followed the published guidance from the DHS and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office.
“The University’s actions were similar, if not identical, to many other universities across the U.S. dealing with the same situation,” Ellig said.
The MSU community was officially notified of the situation on April 11, when the Office of the President sent a campus-wide email stating the F-1 visa status of three international students had been revoked under the authority of the DHS. An F-1 student visa enables individuals to enter the U.S. and study at an accredited educational institution, according to the U.S. State Department.
The ACLU of Montana filed a lawsuit against the DHS on behalf of two of these students on April 14, requesting a preliminary injunction and a TRO. In this filing, the organization said that these students have not been convicted of any criminal charges and have maintained their compliance with all visa requirements.
The request argued that the DHS could not terminate the students’ visas because it did not adhere to due process, which requires advance notice and an opportunity for the students to respond.
Deernose told the Exponent on April 15 one of the goals of the lawsuit is to allow the two students to finish their semester and graduate this year.
The two plaintiffs are identified in the suit as John Roe and Jane Doe.
Plaintiff Roe is Kurdish Iranian, a group that has historically faced persecution, according to the ACLU filing. The filing further states that Roe’s family has experienced discrimination, and he fears he will face similar treatment should he return to Iran. Roe has been studying in the U.S. since 2016 and has been at MSU working toward his Ph.D in electrical engineering and physics since 2019.
Plaintiff Doe is from Turkey and first arrived in the U.S. in 2014 on an F-1 visa, according to the filing. She earned an undergraduate degree in microbiology from MSU in 2017 and in 2021 she returned to pursue a master’s degree in microbiology. Doe has been working as a teaching assistant for pre-nursing and pre-medical classes.
A federal court in Butte granted the TRO on April 15, providing temporary reinstatement of the students’ visas. This allows the students to continue school and work for 14 days. Additionally, the TRO blocks the DHS from deporting the students while legal challenges are reviewed.
In the April 15 court order, Judge Christensen stated the plaintiffs will likely succeed on the allegation that the DHS’s termination of their student status under the SEVIS “is arbitrary and capricious, an abuse of discretion, contrary to constitutional right, contrary to law and in excess of statutory jurisdiction.”
On Monday, April 21, the DHS filed a motion to rescind or not renew the TRO, arguing the court lacks subject matter jurisdiction and the students are not facing deportation as a result of the SEVIS termination. Additionally, this filing stated that these students’ status were terminated due to criminal charges.
The DHS said in its Monday filing that the students’ visas had not been revoked, and that only their SEVIS accounts had been terminated. SEVIS is a web-based system ICE uses to maintain and oversee information on nonimmigrant students and exchange visitors in the U.S., according to the ICE website.
The filing asserts Roe was arrested by the Bozeman Police Department for theft on March 5, 2025. It also claims that Doe was arrested by the University Police Department on May 19, 2024, for partner or family member assault, causing bodily injury.
Additionally, the DHS’s April 21 filing posits that the plaintiffs included no actual evidence in the lawsuit that ICE has terminated their F-1 status.
According to the DHS filing, the deletion of a SEVIS account “does not cause or equate to cancellation of F-1 status or plaintiffs’ F-1 visas, and certainly does not make them deportable.” However, the “Terminate A Student” section of the Study in the States section of the DHS website states SEVIS termination mandates deportation and that ICE agents “may investigate to confirm the departure of the student”.
In compliance with the TRO, the DHS clarified that it has since reinstated the students’ SEVIS accounts.
On Monday, the DHS called on Andre Watson, the senior official of the National Security Division (NSD) for Homeland Security Investigations, to testify in federal court.
He said the Counter Threat Lead Development Unit (CTLD) — a component of Homeland Security Investigations that is responsible for identifying nonimmigrant visa holders who violate their status — notified the Department of State (DOS) on April 9 that Roe’s visa was not valid as a result of the criminal history match and requested the termination of his SEVIS record.
Similarly, Doe’s information is a verified match to another alleged crime. Subsequently, the CTLD notified the DOS and requested her SEVIS record be terminated, according to the testimony.
Watson said that the authority to revoke visas for nonimmigrant students lies with the DOS.
However, Watson testified that the CTLD was informed by the DOS that Doe’s visa had been revoked. “On April 16, 2025, CTLD received communications from the [DOS], indicating that Doe’s visa was revoked,” his testimony states.
As of the date of publication, the Exponent has no further information about this development.
Recent federal policies continue to affect the status of international students nationwide. At least 1,024 students at 160 colleges, universities and university systems had their visas revoked or their legal status terminated since late March, according to the Associated Press.
As the situation continues to evolve, many questions surrounding these circumstances remain unanswered. MSU currently has 393 international students enrolled, according to the Registrar’s Office.
Ellig told the Exponent in an email on April 14: “We’ve reached out to all our international students to let them know that the staff at the MSU Office of International Programs can meet with them face-to-face to discuss any concerns they might have. They are valued members of our community and we will provide what assistance we can.”
On Friday, April 25 the ACLU of Montana will be filing a reply to the response from the DHS.
A hearing is scheduled for the morning of April 29 in Missoula at the Russell Smith Federal Courthouse.
This is a developing story. The Exponent is in the process of independently verifying the police records of Doe and Roe.
