Chinmay Deore, an Indian undergraduate in computer science and 21 years old at Wayne State University, is one of the four international students to have sued the former Trump administration. The students claim their student immigration statuses were illegally terminated, leaving them at risk of being detained and deported.
Pursued by the Michigan chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the suit seeks to challenge the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its officials, including DHS Secretary Kristi Noem, acting ICE Director Todd Lyons, and ICE Detroit Field Office Director Robert Lynch.
ACLU Seeks Emergency Relief for Deore and Others
On April 10, the ACLU of Michigan issued a press release stating that it has filed the suit on behalf of Deore and three other foreign students—Xiangyun Bu and Qiuyi Yang from China, and Yogesh Joshi from Nepal.
The lawsuit alleges that the F-1 visa statuses of the students were “illegally stripping the immigration status of international students attending public universities throughout the state.” It asks for an emergency injunction to restore their lawful immigration status so they can finish their education and not be deported.
“These students were studying at public colleges across Michigan on legitimate F-1 student visas, and were suddenly in violation of immigration regulations they had never transgressed,” the ACLU said.
Lawsuit Alleges Trump Administration Targeted Students
The lawsuit comes as part of a larger crackdown on foreign students during Donald Trump’s presidency, which the ACLU calls both ideological and fiscal warfare against American colleges.
As per the lawsuit, dozens of foreign students recently had their visas canceled throughout the United States, and at least six state universities in Michigan were among them.
Chinmay and the other plaintiffs also had their status in the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) database canceled “without sufficient notice and explanation.” SEVIS monitors information about non-immigrant students and exchange visitors in the US.
“None of them has been charged with, let alone convicted of, any crime in the US. None has violated any immigration law. Nor have they been active in on-campus protests regarding any political issue,” the lawsuit said.
“DHS did not provide the students or their schools any meaningful explanation for terminating their F-1 student status,” the complaint further said.
Who Is Chinmay Deore?
Chinmay Deore made his first visit to the U.S. in 2004 with an H4 visa, which is commonly given to dependents of H1B visa recipients. Following his return to India in 2014, he migrated to the U.S. once again and finished high school in Michigan. Since August 2021, he has been studying at Wayne State University and resides with his family in Canton, Michigan.
He was still on an H4 visa at the time of his admission, but managed to switch to an F-1 student visa in May 2022. With graduation only a month away, Deore was told by the university earlier this month that his visa status had been revoked.
As per the court filings, the recipient of an email told him that the following was stated, “Our record shows that your SEVIS has been terminated this morning- TERMINATION REASON: OTHERWISE FAILING TO MAINTAIN STATUS – Individual identified in criminal records check and/or has had their VISA revoked. SEVIS record has been terminated.”
The suit highlighted that Deore has never engaged in political activism and does not have a criminal record, except for minor traffic offenses for which he paid fines.
Students Demand Justice and Visa Reinstatement
The ACLU case asks the court to provide immediate judicial relief to Chinmay Deore and the other students involved by reinstating their F-1 visas. If they win, the decision could have wider implications for the way immigration officials treat cancellations of student visas in the future.
Deore’s future—and the futures of many others—remain in limbo as the case goes to court.
