EBS STAFF
Three Montana State University students had their F-1 student status terminated by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security last week according to reporting by the Daily Montanan. The American Civil Liberties Union of Montana announced today that it filed a complaint and request for a temporary restraining order in federal court on behalf of two of the students. According to the ACLU, they had no criminal convictions, immigration violations or history of protest participation.
News outlet Inside Higher Ed has recorded more than 1,000 known revoked visas of international students across more than 40 states, including MSU, University of Montana and the University of Idaho.
The MSU plaintiffs both received an email on April 10 from MSU notifying them that their Student and Exchange Visitor Information System records were terminated, the lawsuit states, and that according to MSU, the individuals were identified in the database with the following message: “Individual identified in criminal records check and/or has had their visa revoked. SEVIS record has been terminated.”
The ACLU argues in the memo that the plaintiffs’ F-1 student status termination was unlawful, stating that the visa termination violates the due process clause of the U.S. Constitution and the status termination violates the Administrative Procedure Act.
“The action against these students comes against the backdrop of federal immigration officials undertaking unprecedented nation-wide actions rescinding the legal status of hundreds of international students,” the press release stated. “Sadly, this federal immigration crackdown has now arrived in Montana.”
The students were pursuing a Ph.D. in electrical engineering/physics for the past six years and a master’s degree in microbiology for the past three and a half years, respectively.
