Judge Blocks Federal Government From Revoking Two MSU Students’ F-1 Visas

A federal judge in Butte on Tuesday temporarily blocked the U.S. Department of Homeland Security from revoking the visas of two international students at Montana State University and barred the federal government from arresting, detaining or transferring the individuals outside its jurisdiction. 

The restraining order came just one day after the ACLU of Montana filed a lawsuit on behalf of the students, who were informed via email April 10 that MSU had discovered their F-1 visas were revoked during a mandatory, routine review of international student records. Both students have been enrolled at the Bozeman campus for several years — one pursuing a master’s degree in microbiology and the other a doctorate in physics and electrical engineering — and both are expected to obtain their degrees later this year. According to the ACLU’s lawsuit, neither student received a communication from Homeland Security explaining or justifying the reasons for the visa terminations, and MSU told Montana Free Press this week it too has not received additional information from federal officials.

“Our clients have no desire other than to complete their studies and obtain their advanced degrees,” ACLU Legal Director Alex Rate told MTFP in an emailed statement Wednesday. “Yesterday’s order brings immediate relief to our clients, and represents a sharp rebuke of this administration’s lawless targeting of international students.”

U.S. District Court Judge Dana Christensen wrote in his order Tuesday that the termination of the visas violated the U.S. Constitution’s guarantee of due process. Citing a recent similar case in New Hampshire involving the termination of an international student’s visa by the Trump administration, Christensen added that the plaintiffs were likely to succeed in their allegations that the government’s actions were “arbitrary and capricious, an abuse of discretion, contrary to constitutional right, contrary to law, and in excess of statutory jurisdiction.”

“The relief requested restores plaintiffs ability to remain in the United States to complete their degrees, and granting temporary relief in this instance will maintain the status quo,” Christensen wrote. “Although defendants have yet to respond, the court finds it compelling that plaintiffs have not been convicted of any crime while in the United States.”

Christensen also noted that attorneys representing the defendants — Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem and Acting Director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Todd Lyons — had not yet appeared in court on the matter, and that the ACLU had furnished evidence showing the plaintiffs are “actively engaged in email correspondence” with the U.S. Attorney’s office in Montana regarding the case. Christensen ordered a hearing in the case for April 29.

The students, identified in the ACLU’s lawsuit as John Roe and Jane Doe, are among the four international students in Montana so far who are confirmed to have had their F-1 visas terminated. One other student at MSU is not part of the ACLU’s lawsuit, and the University of Montana confirmed Monday that it discovered the revocation of one F-1 student visa on the Missoula campus last week. According to reporting by the Missoula-based nonprofit news outlet The Pulp, the UM student has already graduated and is now living in another state as part of a training program that allows F-1 visa holders to remain working in the United States in their chosen field for 12 months after they complete their degrees.

To date, the online news outlet Inside Higher Ed has reportedly identified roughly 1,300 instances of terminated international student visas nationwide on more than 210 college and university campuses. In Montana, officials at UM and MSU say they’ve been proactively communicating with international students about the situation and the options available to them if their visas are revoked. As the state Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education informed MTFP this week, there were 714 international students enrolled on 10 campuses across Montana’s university system last fall, the vast majority of whom are studying under F-1 visas issued by the federal government. OCHE was unaware of any visa revocations other than the three at MSU and one at UM as of Monday afternoon. 

This story originally appeared in the Montana Free Press, which can be found online at montanafreepress.org.