US judge blocks deportation of Indian student over wrongful visa revocation

A US federal judge has intervened in the deportation of an Indian student, questioning the abrupt visa revocation by US authorities and ordering temporary relief in a court hearing on Tuesday

A US federal judge on Tuesday (local time) blocked the Trump administration’s abrupt order to revoke the visa of an Indian student and deport him back. Notably, 21-year old Krish Lal Isserdasani is expected to graduate in May this year from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in engineering. 

 

According to a report by The Hill, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) cancelled Isserdasani’s F-1 visa on April 4 due to his identification in criminal records. 

 

According to the court’s order, Isserdasani was arrested on November 22, 2024, for suspected disorderly behaviour. This happened after he and his friends had an argument with another group of people after leaving a bar.

 

 

However, the court observed that this is not a sufficient ground to cancel any student’s visa. “He was given no warning, no opportunity to explain or defend himself, and no chance to correct any potential misunderstanding before his F-1 student visa record was terminated in SEVIS,” Judge William Conley of the Western District of Wisconsin, said in his order.   Also Read: Explainer: Trump-Harvard controversy and its impact on students, immigrants

 

Judge Conley further stated that Isserdasani had not been convicted of any crime and that his claim of wrongful visa termination had a “reasonable chance of success” in court. He scheduled a hearing for a preliminary injunction on April 28.

 

The report said that Madison attorney Shabnam Lotfi requested a temporary restraining order after Isserdasani’s record was removed from the US government’s Student and Exchange Visitor Programme (SEVIS) database.

 

Lotfi said that the order is believed to be one of the first national victories for international student visa holders whose records were terminated. About 1,300 students nationwide have seen their SEVIS records terminated abruptly.

 

F1 visa is issued to international students who are attending an academic programme or English Language Program at a US college or university.

 

Krish Lal Isserdasani, 21, an international student from India, is set to graduate next month, but the cancellation would force him to leave before graduation. https://t.co/d2KGs1Pztn

— Wisconsin State Journal (@WiStateJournal) April 15, 2025

Why are student visas being revoked?

 

The Trump administration has revoked the visas of hundreds of international students from various countries for different reasons. However, most of the affected students are those who participated in the pro-Palestinian protests in the US last year.

 

According to a report by the BBC, lawyers for some students who have filed lawsuits against the US government say the students’ visas were suddenly taken away without warning, and there was no way to appeal or correct the issues.

 

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said student visas are meant for studying and warned that they could be revoked if international students were involved in activities seen as ‘destabilising’.

 

Most of the affected students were involved in pro-Palestinian protests, according to Rubio. Some also had past criminal records. For example, a Turkish student at the University of Minnesota was detained in March after his visa was revoked due to a past drunk driving charge, as reported by CBS News. In other cases, students lost their visas because of old speeding tickets.

 

BBC’s report mentioned that many professors and human rights groups are worried that students may now feel afraid to speak their minds, fearing it could affect their legal status.

 

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said, “No president should be allowed to set an ideological litmus test and exclude or remove people from our country who they disagree with.”

 

The White House has defended these actions by pointing to a 1952 law that gives the Secretary of State the power to expel foreigners who are seen as a ‘potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequence’ to the US.