The Trump administration wrongfully revoked hundreds of student visas, and federal judges are working to reinstate visas for international students. Throughout April 2025, many international students’ statuses were jeopardized by the incorrect extermination of their student visas. This puts their careers, schooling, and safety at risk. Many are scared of getting deported to countries they are not even from originally. Common deportation locations are El Salvador, Honduras, and India.
There have been around 1000 cases of this so far, and two prominent stories have spoken up. Anjan Roy, a student from Bangladesh studying at Missouri State University, had his visa cancelled in April. This led him into great despair, and he avoided going to classes, public places, and kept his cell phone off. This state of fear and emotional distress took a major toll on him and his family as well. After his cousins heard, he claimed, “They were scared someone was going to pick me up from the street and take me somewhere that they wouldn’t even know.”
Another case occurred at the University of Wisconsin. Yue Yang, an international student from China, had her visa revoked due to a “criminal record”. Her only charge was a speeding ticket, which is not a viable reason for deportation. In fact, in Wisconsin, any issue that is punishable by forfeiture cannot be considered a criminal charge. Yang was set to graduate in a few months, and she spent around $130,000 in tuition. With a cancelled visa, it may not have been possible for her to claim her diploma. With the carelessness of the Trump administration and their continuous failure to provide background checks, many students have been feeling unsafe. Yang also reported, “The psychological impact of the situation has been overwhelming, causing her to become consumed by fear and anxiety every moment of the day. She is scared to go to class or go out in public because she is afraid that she will be arrested by ICE, detained, and deported at any moment.”
With the immense number of cases surrounding this, over 1000 students have filed lawsuits against the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE. Students have claimed that there had been no prior notice before their Student and Exchange Visitor Information System records, or SEVIS, had been removed. Attorneys such as Charles Kuck have been pursuing cases to let students stay in the U.S. Kuck plans on filing a class action lawsuit to protect the entire student body who are staying in the U.S. on visas. During all of this, U.S. District Court Judge Victoria Calvert decided to issue a temporary two-week order that allowed students involved in this case to continue studying. By the end of May, Calvert must either set out to pass a ruling that will protect student rights or allow the Trump Administration to continue its unlawful visa revocation.
