 "‘Aim is to sow chaos and fear:’ Indian student sues Trump administration over deportation threat")
Four students, including one Indian, have sued the Donald Trump administration in US over their potential deportation after their student immigration status was terminated earlier this month. News agency PTI reported that the students are now seeking relief from the court in the form of regaining their legal status.
The Trump administration has recently started cracking down on campus activism. According to media reports, hundreds of foreign students in the US have received emails asking them to self-deport. Students accused of minor crimes, such as shoplifting and traffic violations, are also on the radar.
More about the lawsuit
The lawsuit has been filed by Indian student Chinmay Deore, along with two students from China and one from Nepal. Chinmay studies at Wayne State University.
In the lawsuit, the students have alleged that their legal status within the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) was “illegally terminated” without any explanation. SEVIS is a database where information about non-immigrant students in the US is stored.
The students are now left with no legal status in the country, which effectively means they can be punished by law if they fail to self-deport from the US.
The lawsuit against the Trump administration has been filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on behalf of the students in the US District Court Eastern District of Michigan.
The demands of the students
In the lawsuit, the students have demanded their legal status be reinstated, arguing that they haven’t been involved in any crime or any violation of immigration law.
“At most, what seems to connect the students is that they had some encounter with some American law enforcement official at some point in the past, no matter how innocuous – including receiving a speeding or parking ticket (or even a warning) or lawfully withdrawing an application to enter the US,” the lawsuit read.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsLoren Khogali, executive director of the ACLU of Michigan, was quoted as saying by the Detroit Free Press that through such moves, the Trump administration was seeking to sow chaos and fear among the students.
“The aim of this administration is to sow chaos and fear by attacking some people to terrorise us all… They are now coming for international students who provide critical perspectives and contributions to our academic communities and, through their spending, make a major contribution to our economy,” Khogali said.
The development follows closely on the heels of a US judge’s decision to temporarily block the Trump administration from deporting Krish Lal Isserdasani, a 21-year-old Indian undergraduate whose student visa had been cancelled. Krish, who is nearing the completion of his studies, is set to graduate in May.
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