U.S. federal court gives relief to Indian students whose visas were revoked Premium

Federal judge issues TRO on SEVIS records for international students after lawsuit against U.S. government over visa terminations.

After the Murthy Law Firm filed a lawsuit against the federal government, a federal judge in Georgia issued Temporary Restraining Orders (TROs) restoring Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) records for 133 international students who sued over unlawful SEVIS terminations. This comes after the U.S. Department of State (DOS) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) revoked Visas of International students and terminated their SEVIS records, citing encounters with law enforcement, many without any conviction.

Anna Stepanova, assistant Managing Attorney, Murthy law firm, said the SEVIS reinstatements ordered by various federal judges are the result of Temporary Restraining Orders (TROs), which, at this time, provide a temporary reinstatement of plaintiffs’ SEVIS records until the lawsuit is resolved via a final order from the judge. However, the standard for granting a TRO is a showing of a substantial likelihood of success on the merits of the case. This is generally seen as a positive development in the SEVIS terminations litigation.

Late last month, the U.S. Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, reported that DOS revoked more than 300 student visas and announced a new “Catch and Revoke” program that uses AI-assisted reviews to screen social media posts of student visa holders.

According to a verified source cited by the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA), out of 4,736 SEVIS records that the ICE has terminated since January 20, 2025, 50 per cent were Indians, with the majority being on F-1 visa status. Chinese students accounted for 14%, and a significant number of students were from Nepal, South Korea, and Bangladesh.

The AILA report had indicated that 50 per cent of students were on Optimal Practical Training (OPT), which means that they had graduated and were employed in the U.S. Many Indian students especially from the STEM fields after their graduation work in the U.S. temporarily for 12 months with an additional extension of up to 36 under Optimal Practical Training. Many of the students who are doing their OPTs hope to secure a working career in the U.S. It is very difficult to secure an H1B visa in the U.S., for all these students who want to survive in the U.S., these OPTs open doors for them.

The AILA study found many of those whose visas had been revoked had been in police reports for minor traffic violations or campus infractions, while in an extreme case, a student who was a victim of domestic abuse had their visa cancelled because their name appeared in the police complaint.

Only two of the 327 responses received pertained to allegations that the students were involved in any political activity, and lawyers have pointed out that protesting is not illegal per se, and that the students risked losing their futures due to the government’s action.