ACLU of Michigan sues Trump administration to reinstate international students' visas

The Detroit News on Apr 11, 2025

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The ACLU of Michigan filed a federal lawsuit Thursday asking the court to reinstate four international students at Michigan universities whose student immigration status were terminated by the Trump administration.

The lawsuit asks the court for an temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction requiring the government to reinstate the students "so that they will be able to complete their studies and avoid facing the risk of detention and deportation," the ACLU said in a news release announcing the lawsuit.

The request for the restraining order and injunction asks the court to prohibit the federal government from "arresting, detaining, or transferring Plaintiffs out of this Court's jurisdiction ... without first providing adequate notice to both this Court and Plaintiffs' counsel as well as time to contest any such action."

The suit names as plaintiffs Chinmay Deore, 21, of India; Yogesh Joshi, 32, from Nepal; Xiangyun Bu, 25, of China; and Qiuyi Yang, 26, also from China, as among the students who have had their status revoked.

About 450 students and recent graduates at about 100 universities across the country have recently had their legal status changed by the U.S. State Department, according to Inside Higher Ed.

In Michigan, university officials at Wayne State, Central Michigan, Oakland University, Michigan State, University of Michigan and Grand Valley State have reported visa terminations among their international students. On Wednesday, UM said 22 students and recent graduates had their visas or their right to stay in the United States revoked, top leaders there said.

The ACLU lawsuit asserts that termination of F-1 student status violates the students' due process rights because the government must provide advance notice and "a meaningful opportunity to respond when taking such action."

The lawsuit also states that specific legal grounds are required to terminate a student’s status.

A student would have to fail to take full courses of study, engage in unauthorized employment or be convicted of a violent crime, the ACLU said. "None of these grounds apply to the plaintiffs in this case whose student status was terminated by the Trump administration."

“This administration continues to act as if the most basic constitutional requirements don’t apply to them," said Loren Khogali, executive director of the ACLU of Michigan. “The right to due process is one of our most fundamental constitutional rights, requiring that a person receive sufficient notice to respond and challenge a government action."

Chinmay, one of the plaintiffs, has been seeking a bachelor’s degree in computer science at Wayne State University since August 2021. Yogesh has been pursuing a Ph.D. in anatomy and cell biology at Wayne State since August 2021; Xiangyun has been pursuing a master’s degree in mechanical engineering at the University of Michigan since August 2023; and Qiuyi has been pursuing a Ph.D. at the School for Environment and Sustainability at UM since August 2023, according to the lawsuit.

"None of them has been charged with, let alone convicted of, any crime in the United States," the lawsuit said. "Some have not even committed a traffic violation. None has violated any immigration law. Nor have they been active in on-campus protests regarding any political issue."

Visas can be revoked for a number of reasons. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said the government is going after students whose activities "are counter to … our national interest, our foreign policy."

President Donald Trump said last week that visas are being revoked "every day."

Rubio has acknowledged that many of the targeted international students have connections to pro-Palestinian causes. Among the more high-profile cases is that of Mahmoud Khalil, a green-card holder who led protests at Columbia University and is now facing deportation.

Facing a deadline from an immigration judge to turn over evidence for its attempted deportation of Khalil, the federal government instead on Wednesday submitted a brief memo, signed by Rubio, citing the Trump administration’s authority to expel noncitizens whose presence in the country damages U.S. foreign policy interests.

The two-page memo, obtained by the Associated Press, does not allege any criminal conduct by Khalil, a legal permanent U.S. resident and graduate student who served as spokesperson for campus activists last year during large demonstrations against Israel's treatment of Palestinians and the war in Gaza.Rather, Rubio wrote Khalil could be expelled for his beliefs.

The ACLU lawsuit names as defendants Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem; Acting Director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement Todd Lyons; and Field Office Director of ICE's Detroit Field Office Robert Lynch.

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