Federal judge signals she will temporarily block attempts to revoke visas for international students

This story was updated at 8:20 a.m. on April 19. 

UPDATE: U.S. District Court Judge Victoria Calvert issued a temporary restraining order Friday that will allow 133 international students and recent graduates studying around the country, including 26 in Georgia, to continue their coursework in the United States for at least the next two weeks.

The administration of President Donald Trump revoked the students’ access to a program that allows international students to maintain their visa status. The students say they were given no forewarning and were not told why their status was being revoked. Some said they were ordered by the government to leave the country voluntarily or face mandatory deportation.

Calvert found that the students are likely to show that the termination of their status was not lawful and was an “arbitrary and capricious” use of power.

The judge also disagreed with the government’s argument that the students had suffered no harm from the decision and should reapply to the program or consider transferring credits to universities in their home countries.

“Plaintiffs fear that they will abruptly have to leave behind family, cancel marriage plans, and abandon their communities in order to avoid detention or being labeled a national security or foreign policy threat,” she wrote. “Many Plaintiffs are mere weeks away from attaining their degrees. The loss of timely academic progress alone is sufficient to establish irreparable harm. Additionally, all Plaintiffs report high levels of stress and anxiety resulting from the uncertainty around their futures. If Plaintiffs cannot work or study, they cannot remain in the United States legally and will therefore be subjected to removal proceedings or forced to return to their native countries on their own.”

The order also compels the government to agree to a protective order promising not to disclose the identity of the students participating in the case and not to use their identity for any purpose other than the litigation.

The court has scheduled another hearing on Thursday to consider granting more permanent relief.

Read the original story below:

Over 100 international college students and recent graduates who say their immigration records have been abruptly revoked may soon have some temporary relief.

In an Atlanta courtroom Thursday, U.S. District Court Judge Victoria Calvert said she is inclined to grant that relief.

“I just need to figure out the contours,” she said.

In the suit before Calvert, 133 students from universities around the country – including 26 from Georgia – said the administration of President Donald Trump and U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement improperly cut off their Student and Exchange Visitor Information System records, or SEVIS.

When it was originally filed last week, the case included 17 students and recent graduates, seven from Georgia. They attend schools including the University of Georgia, Georgia Tech, Emory University and Kennesaw State University.

Attorney Charles Kuck, who represented the students, said SEVIS was created after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks to track international students. Losing SEVIS status would effectively end an international student’s ability to keep studying in the U.S.

“SEVIS is kind of like the Big Brother for foreign students, and if you violate any term in that, you get terminated,” he said. “But also, apparently, you get terminated when you don’t violate any terms in it, according to the new theory of ICE.”

Kuck said the students weren’t told the specific reasons for their terminations. Many of his clients have had minor run-ins with the law, including traffic offenses like speeding or driving with an expired license, a DUI charge that was reduced to reckless driving or in one case, a domestic violence charge that was later dropped for lack of evidence. Some said they have no criminal or traffic history.

Kuck said none of his clients have been accused of any infraction that would result in loss of SEVIS under federal rules, and he believes the government flagged his clients and others en masse using AI without any judicial review.

An Inside Higher Ed analysis found that as of Thursday, over 240 colleges around the country have reported 1,480 international students and recent graduates who have had their legal status changed by the State Department. Federal judges in other states have already issued orders to temporarily reinstate students.

International students make up about 8% of the nearly 346,000 students enrolled in Georgia’s public colleges and universities.

The revocations have sparked protests, including at Georgia campuses.

Kuck said many of the students are close to graduation, and some have job offers they stand to lose out on, including one as a Georgia Tech professor.

He said one of the plaintiffs has attempted suicide and many of the others are terrified.

“A lot of our clients are so fragile mentally, emotionally, they don’t know what to do, they’re very concerned about if ICE is going to knock on their door, I mean, they’re panicked. And so we’ve spent a lot of time, unfortunately, calming them down, saying relax, it’s going to be okay, we’ve got your back, you’re not going to get picked up, and this is all going to work out.”

Attorney David Powell with the U.S. Attorney’s Office argued that the students had not shown any evidence that they have suffered permanent harm. He said students should reapply for their SEVIS status and suggested that they could transfer credits and complete their studies in their home countries or in Canada.

He requested that any relief be narrowly tailored to allow students to finish semesters they had already paid for but not to include recent graduates who are in the country performing optional practical training, a program which allows them to work in the country while waiting in the lottery for an H-1B visa – a foreign worker visa that allows foreign citizens with specialized skills to work in the U.S. – or make other plans for the future.

The government has until midnight Friday to file a motion in the case, and Calvert could issue temporary relief shortly afterwards.

Calvert, who was appointed to the bench in 2022 by former President Joe Biden, scheduled a follow-up hearing April 24 to consider more permanent relief.