He’s not the only one — more than 1,000 other students’ legal statuses are being terminated.
A DePaul student was told by the university last week that his F-1 status that allows him to study in the United States was terminated, and he’s suing the Trump administration to get it back.
A 26-year-old graduate student studying business analytics at DePaul was expected to graduate in June. He came to the United States in September 2023 to pursue his master’s degree, after he graduated with a Bachelor of Technology degree from an Indian university in 2019.
To avoid increasing this student’s risk of immediate detainment and deportation, 14 East will not be using his name.
On April 8, 2025, the student received an email from DePaul University’s International Student and Scholar Services (ISS) stating, “your F-1 status was terminated in SEVIS by the system for the reason and explanation of ‘OTHER – Individual identified in criminal records check and/or has had their VISA revoked. SEVIS record has been terminated. Error! Filename not specified (sic). This means that you currently do not have a visa status within the U.S.”
SEVIS is the U.S. Student and Exchange Visitor Information System operated within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The complaint says that according to DePaul, the SEVIS database “indicated that (the student) has had his visa revoked.”
The student and his lawyer, Jeffrey Grant Brown, filed a complaint for declaratory and injunction relief against Kristi Noem, the U.S. secretary of homeland security; Todd Lyons, the acting director of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE); and DHS. Both Noem and Lyons are being sued in their “official capacity,” meaning they are not personally being sued.
The legal filing includes a request for seven types of relief from the court:
- For the District Court for the Northern Division of Illinois Eastern Division, based in Chicago, to take control of the student’s case;
- Declare that the termination of the student’s F-1 legal status violated his right to due process;
- Require that the defendants — Noem, Lyons and DHS — show the student any evidence against him and allow him to respond to this evidence before an impartial adjudicator;
- Order the immediate reinstatement of the student’s F-1 status at DePaul;
- Prohibit defendants from detaining the student, or taking any steps to do so;
- Pay all attorneys fees and costs;
- Order any additional relief to the student deemed “just and proper” by the court.
“I do believe this is illegal,” said Brown. “I don’t agree that, as a legal matter, his visa was revoked.”
According to the complaint: “the revocation of an F-1 visa does not constitute a failure to maintain F-1 student status and, therefore, cannot serve as a basis for termination of F-1 student status in the SEVIS system.
“If an F-1 visa is revoked before the student’s arrival in the United States, the student may not enter, and his SEVIS record is terminated.
“However, the SEVIS record may not be terminated as a result of visa revocation after a student has been admitted into the United States because the student is permitted to continue the authorized course of study.”
According to Brown, the student is not guilty of any crimes that would allow his F-1 status to be terminated. These crimes would include “crimes of violence” where a sentence of one year or longer would be served. The student was arrested in 2024 for a minor shoplifting offense. However, the Cook County State’s Attorney chose not to prosecute the case, which was dismissed.
“Getting arrested is NOT a basis to terminate the F-1 student status of a student,” the lawsuit reads.
A nonviolent crime resulting in a sentence of less than one year of imprisonment is also not reason to revoke this status. According to the lawsuit, these are the federal government’s own regulations.
The student has not violated any other terms of his visa, either, such as maintaining a full course load, the lawsuit reads.
While international students are concerned about going to class right now, those who don’t attend class risk their visa status; it’s a “catch-22,” says Brown.
Gretchen Frickx, DePaul’s senior director of international student success and global partnership management, and James Dorsett, director of international student and scholar services, said in a written statement that DePaul’s International Student and Scholar Services (ISS) is constantly monitoring changes to immigration laws:
“When ISS learns of changes, we quickly share guidance to help our international students understand how they may be affected,” Frickx and Dorsett wrote. “Most recently, we recommended that international students carry copies of their immigration documents at all times, carefully consider any international travel, and review their rights if approached by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.”
Students are able to “contact their ISS advisor or the ISS office at iss@depaul.edu or (312) 362-8376 for support. They can also visit our office at 9300 DePaul Center in the Loop,” Frickx and Dorsett wrote. However, ISS cannot provide legal advice to students and recommends that students with concerns “obtain legal counsel.”
DHS declined to answer any specific questions regarding the lawsuit or the change in this student’s legal status. The department wrote in an email to 14 East, “Due to privacy concerns and visa confidentiality, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) generally does not comment on specific cases or actions taken under the ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP).”
According to the email from DHS, regular reviews are conducted in SEVIS to make sure visa holders are compliant.
In the same email, DHS said: “When a violation is identified, DHS may notify the Department of State. Information sharing amongst the departments is part of longstanding protocol. Under the INA, DoS has the authority to make a visa revocation determination and may consider criminal arrests and other national security concerns. DoS can also make visa revocation determinations independent of DHS notification.” INA refers to the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952. DHS added that the State Department is not required to notify DHS to make decisions regarding visa revocation.
The ICE press office did not respond to a request for comment.
This DePaul student is not the only individual facing F-1 status termination.
Inquiries from students to the bar association for immigration attorneys started slowly at the beginning of the month. However, hundreds of calls have since come in from students who have lost legal status over the last few days, according to the Associated Press (AP). Matthew Maiona, a Boston-based immigration attorney, told the AP that he is currently receiving about six calls a day from panicked international students.
Since March, at least 1,024 students at 160 colleges and universities across the country have had their visas revoked or legal status terminated, according to a review from the Associated Press. Last year, there were about 1.1 million international students in the U.S. According to the AP, the majority of students losing legal status are from India and China. Students from those two countries make up more than half of international students studying in the United States.
Students have been notified about their legal status by their university via email. Four students from two Michigan universities were told that there was a “criminal records check and/or that their visa was revoked,” their attorney from the American Civil Liberties Union, Ramis Wadood, told the AP. The lawyer said none of the students was ever charged or convicted of any crimes.
Key differences in student visa revocations have popped up in the last few weeks. In the past, “legal statuses typically were updated after colleges told the government the students were no longer studying at the school,” officials told the AP. Now, colleges are being made aware of students losing legal status through the colleges’ own checks of a DHS database.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said last month that “the State Department was revoking visas held by visitors who were acting counter to national interests, including some who protested Israel’s war in Gaza and those who face criminal charges,” according to the AP. However, many students losing their legal status say they meet neither of these requirements.
Students at all universities appear to be at risk, from large public research institutions to tiny liberal arts colleges.
Brown, the DePaul student’s attorney, recommends that international students concerned about their visa status seek legal counseling. In its email to the student, DePaul said students can contact the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
Students can check their visa status through the Consular Electronic Application Center (CEAC) or the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS).
Header photo by Varun Khushalani
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