The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is once again taking aim at the Trump administration, this time for targeting international students who had their legal status revoked.
“The consequences of Defendants’ unilateral and unlawful termination are dire,” ACLU attorneys argued in a class-action lawsuit filed in New Hampshire. “The termination puts students out of lawful student status. Plaintiffs and the class face immigration detention and deportation. Plaintiffs and the class face severe financial and academic hardship.”
More than 1,100 students across 170 schools have been impacted by visa terminations since late last month, according to an Associated Press tally. The lawsuit claims these actions disrupted students “in the middle of their studies (and in the middle of a semester)… simply trying to obtain, often at considerable expense, an education in the United States while following all the rules required of them.”
The government crackdown has sparked legal challenges in Wisconsin, Montana, and New Hampshire, where students have secured temporary restraining orders preventing deportation.
Meanwhile, the Department of Homeland Security is defending the actions.
“The American Civil Liberties Union appears far more interested in protecting foreign students than the civil liberties and safety of Americans,” said DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. “When you break our laws and advocate for violence and terrorism, that privilege should be revoked.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said over 300 student visas have already been terminated, with numbers increasing daily. A State Department spokesperson added, “The department revokes visas every day in order to secure our borders and to keep our community safe.”
