Judge issues temporary restraining order against deportation of more than 100 international students whose visas were revoked

By Rafael Romo, Nick Valencia and Chris Youd, CNN

Atlanta (CNN) — A judge on Friday issued a temporary restraining order in the case of more than 100 international students in the United States whose visas were revoked by the federal government court documents show.

The order by US District Court Judge Victoria Calvert temporarily prevents the deportation of 133 foreign students from at least five countries who filed a lawsuit seeking to stop the revocation of visas to international students, the order, which is valid until May 2, says. Attorneys for the students asked Calvert on Thursday to temporarily block the government from changing their immigration status.

The decision also means the students’ legal status must be reinstated under Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) used by the Department of Homeland Security to maintain information mainly regarding international students and their status in the country.

The lawsuit claims the administration removed the statuses from the program, asking the court to reinstate those that have already been revoked.

Calvert, who was nominated to the bench by President Joe Biden in 2021, did not immediately rule on the request during the Thursday hearing in Atlanta, but indicated she planned to grant some form of temporary relief.

In the complaint, the students are not identified by name, but a “pseudonym due to fear of retaliation by Defendants.”

“We don’t know why their visas were revoked. We’re basically guessing. But we don’t know and that is a problem,” Charles Kuck, an attorney representing the students said Thursday in court.

Dustin Baxter, one of the filing attorneys, told CNN the threshold to obtain a temporary restraining order is much higher than the permanent injunction because to get an emergency order granted, they have to show the plaintiffs are likely to succeed on the merits of the case.

“The fact that we met the legal threshold for a grant of the emergency temporary restraining order bodes very well for the likely success of the permanent injunction in this case,” Baxter said in a statement reacting to the order.

“We are ecstatic for the kids, mainly because they no longer have this cloud hanging over their heads and can go back to school and work next week knowing that they have this protective order issued by the judge,” Baxter continued.

During the Thursday hearing, the government argued granting temporary relief would be harmful to “the executive branch’s ability to control immigration.” US Attorney David Powell also argued the government needs to identify the plaintiffs to prove “actual harm.”

“We can’t say who they are because we have no information. We need to know their status before we can prove actual harm,” Powell said during the hearing.

Federal officials have not specified the reasons why the students’ visas have been revoked, but Secretary of State Marco Rubio has repeatedly said some behavior, including participating in protests, will not be tolerated.

“They’re here to go to class. They’re not here to lead activist movements that are disruptive and undermine our universities. I think it’s lunacy to continue to allow that,” Rubio said.

The White House and DHS have not responded to CNN’s request for comment on the lawsuit.

Another hearing is scheduled for April 24, according to attorneys in the case.

More than 1,000 international students and recent graduates at more than 130 schools around the country have had their visas revoked with little or no explanation this year as the Trump administration continues its immigration crackdown.

Traffic stops used as criteria to revoke visas, lawsuit says

The lawsuit, filed by the Atlanta-based legal firm Kuck Baxter last Friday, initially included the cases of 17 international students. CNN has obtained copies of both the complaint, the adjoining motion for a temporary restraining order and a modified complaint that added dozens of students and was filed at the same court late Tuesday night.

Nine of the original 17 students in the lawsuit are citizens of India and five are from China. The other three come from Colombia, Mexico, and Japan, according to the complaint and Dustin Baxter, one of the filing attorneys.

The lawsuit names three Trump administration officials as defendants: US Attorney General Pam Bondi, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement Acting Director Todd Lyons.

The complaint alleges ICE has abruptly and unlawfully terminated the students’ legal status in the United States “(…) stripping them of their ability to pursue their studies and maintain employment in the United States and risking their arrest, detention, and deportation.”

The complaint offers a synopsis of each of the original 17 cases, listing the college each student is attending, the county where they live, and the reason they believe they’re being targeted.

For example, Jane Doe 1, an international student from Colombia enrolled at Kennesaw State University and a resident of Fulton County, Georgia, believes she’s being targeted for a domestic violence case dismissed in February “because there was no underlying proof of any crime,” according to the complaint.

John Doe 2, an international student from China enrolled at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, believes he’s being targeted for traffic citations, including driving with an expired license plate while his driver’s license was withdrawn. “The case was closed and he had no other arrest history,” according to the complaint.

A doctoral student from China enrolled at the University of Georgia in Athens faced the most serious charge of the 17 students. Jane Doe 5 was arrested in November and charged with DUI, which was later reduced to reckless driving in March, according to the complaint. It also states she “pled guilty and was sentenced to 12 months’ probation and paid all associated fines.”

Baxter said the Trump administration is going well beyond targeting only student activists. Anywhere officials saw a student encounter with a police officer, they would revoke the student visa, he said.

“So not only would they revoke the person’s student visa, even if there was no conviction, if there was just an arrest, and sometimes there wasn’t even an arrest, there was just an encounter and maybe a ticket, they would revoke the student visa,” Baxter said.

With the temporary restraining order, Baxter previously said, they’re seeking to have visas that have already been revoked be reinstated so affected students can remain registered for classes at the colleges and universities they’re attending.

“We’re dealing with a lot of people who are finishing up their education, so we have people who are getting ready to defend their doctoral thesis, and all of a sudden, they were just told via email and by the school that they’re no longer registered in SEVIS, their registration has been terminated and they’re no longer students of the university. So, these people are in difficult situations,” Baxter told CNN before Friday’s temporary restraining order was issued.

CNN’s Maxime Tamsett contributed to this report.

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