US Court Temporarily Restores Legal Status Of 133 Students, Majority Indians

In a big relief, a court in the United States' Georgia has temporarily reinstated the SEVIS (Student and Exchange Visitor Information System) records for 133 international students, of whom the majority are Indian. These students have approached the court after their SEVIS records were terminated and their visas were cancelled by the US Department of State (DOS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

The lawsuit argued the Trump administration has terminated the legal status of students by removing them from SEVIS - an online database used by schools to provide legally required information about international students to the government, according to a report by CNN. 

The lawsuit acknowledged that while some of the plaintiffs have had run-ins with law enforcement officials, none have a criminal conviction against them. 

The federal court issued the temporary restraining order on April 18, directing the government to reinstate the plaintiffs' student status by April 22 while the case proceeds. 

According to Charles Kuck, the attorney who represented the students, all students are now reinstated and can now continue to study or work under the Optional Practical Training (OPT) programme, a report by the Times of India said.

The next hearing in the case is slated for the coming days.

Trump Administration's Action Against Students

According to the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), ICE has terminated SEVIS records of as many as 4,736 international students since January 20, 2025, the majority of whom are Indians. Chinese, Nepalese, South Korean, and Bangladeshi students have also been targeted by the administration. In most cases, the Trump administration has used reasons like traffic tickets or violations of university regulations to target students. 

In 327 detailed reports obtained by AILA, it was found that most of the Indian students who were targeted were F-1 visa holders and were in the US on Optional Practical Training (OPT) - a temporary work authorisation granted to international students after graduation, particularly those from STEM courses.