Tag Archive for: Visa Revocation

Cyrus Mehta

Police State for Noncitizens in the US?  

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By Cyrus D. Mehta and Kaitlyn Box*

In recent weeks, the Trump administration has taken troubling immigration-related actions that draw the United States ever closer to becoming a police state. Most notably, on January 7, 2025, an ICE agent shot and killed Renee Good, a U.S. citizen who was observing an ICE raid. In a NY Times op ed, Michelle Goldberg aptly points out that, “[a]ll of us, citizens and immigrants alike, are being ruled by people who think life is a privilege bestowed by authority, and death is a fair penalty for disobedience.” The killing of Ms. Good illustrates that the assault on our rights and liberties is no longer confined to noncitizens and has radiated outwards to encompass citizens as well as countries. 

Violence and abductions have long been a hallmark of the Trump administration. Just days before the killing of Ms. Good, on January 3, 2025, the Trump administration led an operation in Venezuela that led to the capture of the country’s leader, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife. In a NY Times op ed, M. Gessen noted that: “When he addressed the public in a news conference on Saturday, President Trump announced that U.S. forces had abducted the president of Venezuela and his wife in the name of democracy, justice, freedom for the Venezuelan people and the safety of Americans. It was a mockery: Despite what the hoodlums running our country may actually believe, abduction — whether on a street in Boston, in an apartment building in New York or Chicago, or in Maduro’s compound in Caracas — never serves the cause of justice”.

Noncitizens in the United States are living in what is becoming increasingly akin to a police state, fearing detention, deportation, or revocation of their visas if they exercise their free speech rights under the first amendment. The State Department boasts that it has revoked 100,000 visas including some 8,000 student visas and 2,500 specialized visas for individuals who had encounters with U.S. law enforcement for criminal activity, which it brands as “thugs”. It is not clear what the State Department visa means by “criminal activity” as we have heard about the revocation of visas based on minor traffic infractions or even if the charges got dismissed.  The Trump administration has weaponized INA 237(a)(4)(c) to initiate detention and removal, and the fear of it, against anyone whose speech is disfavored including anti Americanism, however that is defined, and activities to moderate hate speech on the internet, even if undertaken as part of one’s job. In September 2025, in Vasquez Perdomo v. Noem, the Supreme Court troublingly held that apparent ethnicity is a “relevant factor” for purposes of immigration stops, essentially sanctioning racial profiling by ICE agents. In Minneapolis, ICE is detaining noncitizens who may already be authorized to be in the US based on a status review of their application. Immigration law only permits detention of people who an officer has “reason to believe” are present in violation of law. No law permits detention for a fishing expedition.

In the current climate, it is increasingly important for noncitizens to know what their rights are if approached by ICE or questioned about their immigration status. Noncitizens who are in a lawful immigration status are advised to carry proof of their status, like a lawful permanent resident card or I-94, with them at all times, and to present it if approached by ICE. Undocumented individuals should be aware that they have the right to remain silent if approached by ICE in public or during a traffic stop, and can ask to contact an attorney. Noncitizens are advised not to open the door if ICE comes to their home, and should be familiar with the difference between a warrant signed by a judge and an “ICE warrant”, which is not signed by a judge and does not give ICE the right to enter a home without consent. 

Trump appears to have little regard for whether his actions amount to violations of international law, stating that he is constrained only by his “own morality”. 

*Kaitlyn Box is a Partner at Cyrus D. Mehta & Partners PLLC.

 

Cyrus Mehta

DHS Reverses Course, Restores Student SEVIS Records—But Future Remains Uncertain

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In the wake of a wave of dozens of lawsuits and emergency court orders following sudden revocations of the visas of foreign students and scholars and deletion of thousands of Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) records by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) without notice or explanation, which have thrown foreign students’ lives into chaos, the agency suddenly reversed course on April 25, 2025, and restored many foreign students’ SEVIS records, along with their legal status. 

The administration sent out mixed signals, however, as DHS officials were quoted as saying that this action was temporary while the agency worked on a new, unspecified policy. Tricia McLaughlin, a DHS spokesperson, said, “We have not reversed course on a single visa revocation. What we did is restore SEVIS access for people who had not had their visa revoked.” A statement from a government attorney in one of the lawsuits said, “ICE is developing a policy that will provide a framework for SEVIS record terminations. Until such a policy is issued, the SEVIS records for plaintiff(s) in this case (and other similarly situated plaintiffs) will remain Active or shall be re-activated if not currently active and [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement] will not modify the record solely based on the NCIC finding that resulted in the recent SEVIS record termination.”

“It is good to see ICE recognize the illegality of its actions canceling SEVIS registrations for these students. Sad that it took losing 50 times. What we don’t yet know is what ICE will do to repair the damage it has done, especially for those students who lost jobs and offers and had visas revoked,” said Charles Kuck, an attorney for some of the foreign student plaintiffs. Some affected students have already left the United States, while others are in hiding or not attending class, according to reports. 

Colleges and universities have had to deal with the uncertainty and other effects of these actions on their students, scholars, and programs; their ability to conduct research; and concerns about whether U.S. universities will be able to attract top talent in the future.

Although many students can heave a sigh of relief and return to their classrooms, not all the terminations have been restored, and we know students in F-1 status waiting with baited breath for similar positive action. 

My colleague Jeff Joseph, ponders in a LinkedIn post:

“What remains unresolved, unfortunately, is the shrapnel that remains from this illegal action: 

(1) SEVIS has been restored, but the visas were also revoked as a result of the illegal SEVIS termination, and , guess what? Visa revocations are NOT subject to judicial review, so there may be no way to challenge that (although I am looking for brilliant minds to brainstorm with me on this); 

(2) The only way to challenge the visa revocation is in removal proceedings, but it is not entirely clear how a student would challenge a DOS determination in immigration court. The jurisdiction of the judge over a DOS determination is not entirely clear; 

(3) When your visa is revoked, you become deportable. So, all 4,700 of these students are still subject to arrest, transfer to Louisiana or Texas, detention, and deportation; unless we can figure out how to resolve number 3 above, this problem will haunt these students; 

(4) It is great that ICE is creating a policy about how and when they can terminate SEVIS and all, but that, itself, is illegal. ICE can’t create rules that moderate conduct and create penalties without doing so through formal rulemaking and notice and comment. So, creating this policy may solve part of the TROs, but attorneys will just amend the complaints to challenge the rulemaking power of the agency as well as the fact that it is ultra vires to when ICE is allowed to terminate status in the statute. They can’t create new reasons to terminate status that are not statutory; 

(5) Is SEVIS status or not? ICE has taken inconsistent positions on this in litigation and in their own public facing guidance and in prior litigation. The Courts want to know. DSOs want to know. Employers want to know. Students want to know; and

(6). Will the period between when the students registrations terminated and now considered lawful status? If not, that would impact future applications for change of status. Will USCIS recognize what ICE does in SEVIS and honor the reinstatement of status nunc pro tunc?

As you can see, we stopped the bleeding, but still need to deal with the surgery.”

Cyrus Mehta

A Foreign Student Whose Visa Has Been Revoked by Trump Should Still Be Able to Continue to Attend School

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By Cyrus D. Mehta and Kaitlyn Box*

The revocation students’ visas has caused alarm and panic. Our blog advises that the revocation of a visa in the passport does not necessarily result in a violation of nonimmigrant status. The student may still be able to continue their studies at the school.  

On March 27, 2025, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced at a press conference that the Department of State had revoked the visas of approximately 300 foreign students. This disturbing measure comes after the Trump administration has taken numerous actions targeting students involved in pro-Palestine protests for immigration enforcement actions in recent weeks, including the arrest of student activist Mahmoud Khalil, who is a lawful permanent resident, as well as the arrest of a researcher at Tufts University  in F-1 status, Rumeysa Ozturk,  who has been targeted for deportation for merely writing an op-ed in the student newspaper that was critical of Tufts and Israel.  There have been other cases of Indian students whose visas have been revoked such as  Bader Suri and Ranjana Srinvasan (discussed in this article that quotes Cyrus Mehta). 

The State Department has the authority to revoke the underlying visa in the passport under INA 221(i), however, a student can still maintain F-1 visa status while in the US and there is no change in the Student Exchange and Visitor Program.  Until Trump took office on January 20, 2025, the State Department revoked the visa if the student had been arrested in the US for a minor offense, such as driving while intoxicated. The student was still considered to be maintaining F-1 status and could continue to study. Similarly, an individual who was in H-1B status when the underlying H-1B visa got revoked could continue to work for the H-1B employer in the U.S.. If the nonimmigrant in F-1 or H-1B status  departed the US, they would need to apply for a new visa in their passport. 

 ICE has now sneakily usurped the functions of the Designated Student Officer by cancelling F-1 student status in the Student Exchange and Visitor Program (SEVIS) without warning, according to Zeteo. Even  if the visa is revoked and the F-1 status has been terminated in SEVIS, a foreign student can still continue to study and if placed in deportation proceedings should challenge the deportation before an Immigration Judge. According to  a  The Times of India article by Lubna Kably,  hundreds of international students have received emails from the State Department warning them to self-deport or face arrest and deportation. “The crackdown is based on social-media reviews being conducted by DOS (which includes Consulate officials). Thus, even new student applications . . . will also come under such social media scrutiny.” Kably reports that some students have received the emails “for something as innocuous as sharing a social media post.”

In  a prior blog written in 2017 when Trump during his first administration revoked visas based on country bans, we explained that revocation of a visa does not necessarily prevent a noncitizen from maintaining status in the U.S. For example, if a student was issued an F-1 and has already been admitted into the United States in F-1 status when the visa is revoked under a travel ban pursuant to INA 212(f), the revocation of the visa would not impact this student’s ability to maintain F-1 status so long as she is enrolled in the designated school and is complying with all the other terms of her status, such as not engaging in unauthorized employment. If the student leaves the United States, however, she will not be able to come back to the United States without obtaining a new visa. Similarly, an individual whose H-1B visa is revoked may continue to maintain H-1B status but must remain in the employment of the petitioning entity that applied for the H-1B visa classification on his behalf. This individual may also seek an extension of status or change of status while in the United States.  

Note that a nonimmigrant whose visa has been revoked is  subject to removal. INA 237(a)(1)(B) provides:

“Present in violation of law – Any alien who is present in the United States in violation of this Act or any other law of the United States, or whose nonimmigrant visa (or other documentation authorization admission into the United States as a nonimmigrant) has been revoked under section 221(i) is deportable.”

Even if one is not in violation of the INA, but their nonimmigrant visa has been revoked, they can be placed in removal proceedings. If the sole basis of placing the individual in removal proceedings was due to the revocation, under INA 221(i), the revocation can be challenged in removal proceeding. 

As INA 237(a)(1)(B) makes clear that a nonimmigrant whose visa was revoked but has otherwise been maintaining status is still in status until they are removed, there is no basis for DHS or a university to terminate impacted students’ F-1 status until they are removed. If a student is in proceedings and not detained, they can still attend school and maintain status. This principle applies even if a student’s F-1 status in SEVIS is terminated.

The Trump administration has been detaining students after their visa has been revoked.  If the student is detained after removal proceedings have been initiated, a habeas petition may be filed to obtain release of the student. The student should also challenge the deportation in immigration court on the grounds that the revocation has no basis especially when the student was engaged in lawful protected speech as in Khalil’s case. While the student is contesting the grounds of deportation, they can continue their studies in the school. 

A school, unlike an employer, is not obligated to verify a student on an I-9 form. A foreign student can be enrolled in a school even if they are not in F-1 or H-1B status. A noncitizen who is a DACA recipient or who has a pending I-485 adjustment of status application can be erolled.  Indeed, a foreign student who is not in any status based on violating their status or overstaying a visa can still be enrolled in school. A school need not issue a Form I-20 to enroll a student in F-1 status. There is no benchmark for a school to know the status of a student who is enrolled.  Thus, even if DHS has cancelled the student’s status in SEVIS the student should still be able to continue their studies in school.

If the student has successfully overcome the grounds of deportation, the student’s F-1 status can be restored. If the student has received an e mail, as described in the Times of India article, that the visa has been revoked, then if the student also learns that their SEVIS record has been terminated, the student should challenge the SEVIS termination in federal court through the Administrative Procedure Act on grounds that the action was arbitrary, capricious and the student was not given any warning or notice to respond. The visa revocation itself cannot be challenged in federal court before removal (deportation) proceedings, but if the student is placed in deportation, they can challenge the proceedings in immigration court. If a student is also detained upon the initiation of deportation proceedings, they can file a habeas petition in federal district court to challenge their detention as well as seek a bond hearing before an immigration judge.  And ultimately, at the end of those deportation proceedings, the student could seek review in federal court of the visa revocation.

Although there is a vicious, unprecedented crackdown on foreign students under the Trump administration, with the help of lawyers and legal organizations, they should stand firm and challenge the revocation of their visas, the termination of their status, and their deportation.  A foreign student who has protested, either on social media or through actual participation, against the military action in Gaza does not necessarily become a Hamas supporter. The student is protesting because they have been moved by tens of thousands of deaths of civilians including children. Demonstrating compassion for human suffering should not result in the student’s exile. 

*Kaitlyn Box is a Partner at Cyrus D. Mehta & Partners PLLC.