Indian student Chinmay Deore, along with three other students from China and Nepal, filed a lawsuit against the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and immigration officials after their student immigration status was terminated "unlawfully".
Xiangyun Bu and Qiuyi Yang from China, and Yogesh Joshi from Nepal were the other students who claimed in the complaint that their student immigration status in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) was illegally terminated "without sufficient notice and explanation".
Who Is Chinmay Deore?
A lawsuit filed on behalf of the students by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Michigan states that Mr Deore first entered the United States with his family on an H-4 dependent visa in 2004. He and his family left the United States in 2008, and he later returned with his family in 2014. After completing high school in Michigan, he enrolled at Wayne State University under the H-4 status.
The 21-year-old undergraduate student at Wayne State University has been studying computer science there since August 2021.
In May 2022, he lawfully applied for, and was granted, permission to transition to F-1 student status when he was aging out of his H-4 status. He anticipates completing his course of study and graduating in May 2025. He currently resides with his immediate family in Canton.
As per the lawsuit, Deore has never been charged with or convicted of a crime in the United States. And other than a speeding ticket and a parking ticket (the fines for which he promptly paid), he has not been charged with any civil infraction, motor vehicle code violation, or immigration law violation. He has not been active in on-campus protests regarding any political issue.
Following graduation, he had planned to exercise his right, pursuant to his F-1 status, to obtain lawful OPT employment.
What Happened?
On April 4, Wayne State University informed Mr Deore that his F-1 student status in SEVIS had been terminated. Specifically, the email he received stated, "Our record shows that your SEVIS has been terminated this morning- TERMINATION REASON: OTHERWISE FAILING TO MAINTAIN STATUS - Individual identified in criminal records check and/or has had their VISA revoked. SEVIS record has been terminated." No further details or allegations were provided.
Aside from his criminal, civil and immigration record being virtually clean, he also did not receive any notice from the Department of State that any F-1 visa attributed to him has been revoked.
"These terminations have put Plaintiffs' education, research, and career trajectory at risk. In particular, Chinmay is no longer able to obtain OPT, and his ability to transfer his F-1 status to another school for a master's degree is in jeopardy. He has also lost a position he lawfully held pursuant to his F-1 status, a position that provided income that he relied on to support himself. If removed from the United States, he would also be torn away from his parents and sister, all of whom lawfully reside in Canton, Michigan," the lawsuit states.
"The lawsuit asks the court to reinstate the status of these students so that they will be able to complete their studies and avoid facing the risk of detention and deportation," it said.
About The Other Students Who Filed The Lawsuit
Chinese native Mr Xiangyun has been pursuing a master's degree in mechanical engineering at the University of Michigan since August 2023. Ms Qiuyi is a 26-year-old Ph.D. student at the University of Michigan, where she has been studying at the School for Environment and Sustainability since August 2023. Before that, she attended Cornell University from August 2021 until she earned a master's degree in urban planning in May 2023. has been pursuing a Ph.D. at the School for Environment and Sustainability at the University of Michigan since August 2023.
Mr Joshi is a 32-year-old Ph.D. student at Wayne State University, where he has been studying anatomy and cell biology since August 2021. He is a native and citizen of Nepal. He initially entered the United States on an F-1 visa in August 2021 and currently resides in Detroit with his wife and his eight-month-old U.S.-citizen child. He anticipates completing his course of study and graduating in 2026.
