ACLU lawsuit forces ICE to reinstate Michigan students’ immigration status
The students at Wayne State and U-M were facing deportation based on a “cursory and flawed background check”
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Four international students at Wayne State University and the University of Michigan had their F-1 student immigration statuses restored after a federal court approved an agreement resolving a lawsuit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan against the Trump administration.
The lawsuit, filed in April, challenged what the ACLU called an “abrupt and illegal” termination of the students’ records by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
The enforcement actions are part of a nationwide pattern of immigration crackdowns targeting international students.
Under the stipulated order of dismissal issued by U.S. District Judge Stephen J. Murphy III, ICE reinstated the students’ records retroactively, erasing any gap or lapse in their immigration status.
“If it were not for the courage of our clients – and the hundreds of others across the nation – we could not have challenged this callous and ruthless attack on students who are simply trying to learn and enrich our community,” said Ramis Wadood, ACLU of Michigan staff attorney who led the litigation. “The aim of this lawless administration is to attack the rights of some, especially vulnerable communities like our clients, and to terrorize us all. The Trump regime will continue to come for our rights, and the ACLU will be just as relentless in pushing back on every front with all that we have.”
Chinmay Deore, 21, of India; Yogesh Joshi, 32, of Nepal; Xiangyun Bu, 25, of China; and Qiuyi Yang, 26, also of China, filed the lawsuit, accusing the administration of abruptly and unlawfully terminating their visas, without warning or valid justification.
Deore has been studying computer science as an undergraduate at Wayne State University since August 2021; Joshi has been working toward a Ph.D. in anatomy and cell biology at Wayne State since the same year; Bu began pursuing a master’s degree in mechanical engineering at the University of Michigan in August 2023; and Yang has been working on a Ph.D. at the University of Michigan since August 2023.
Under the agreement, ICE cannot re-terminate the students’ status based solely on flawed background checks used in the initial termination, nor can the government deny them future immigration benefits because of the earlier actions. The court order also clarifies that students participating in work programs like Optional Practical Training (OPT) or Curricular Practical Training (CPT) will have their original authorization end dates restored.
In recent weeks, the government revised its Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) policy, limiting ICE’s ability to revoke a student’s visa based on visa revocations that aren’t immediately effective. The order confirms that none of the four students’ visas was revoked in a way that would have justified termination.
The case, Chinmay Deore, et al. v. Secretary of U.S. Department of Homeland Security, was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled on the same grounds. However, the students reserve the right to pursue future litigation if ICE terminates their records again.
