Home Nonprofit & Education Education ACLU files class action lawsuit challenging student visa terminations

ACLU files class action lawsuit challenging student visa terminations

By

James Bessette

-

04/18/2025

ACLU — THE AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES Union has filed a class action lawsuit challenging the revocations of student visas of more than 100 students by the federal government.

PROVIDENCE – Four American Civil Liberties Union affiliates, including the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island Inc., and New Hampshire-based law firm Shaheen & Gordon, filed a federal class action lawsuit looking to represent more than 100 college students studying in New England who had their F-1 immigration statuses terminated. The ACLU on Friday

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PROVIDENCE – Four American Civil Liberties Union affiliates, including the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island Inc., and New Hampshire-based law firm Shaheen & Gordon, filed a federal class action lawsuit looking to represent more than 100 college students studying in New England who had their F-1 immigration statuses terminated. The ACLU on Friday stated the suit accuses the U.S. Department of Homeland Security of terminating the students’ immigration statuses “with no specified reason as to why,” violating their due process rights. The plaintiffs allege the “unlawful” terminations “severely disrupted” the students’ educational opportunities currently studying and seeking an education in the U.S. “while following all the rules required of them.” “With terminated F-1 statuses, they are also now at dire risk of detention and deportation,” the ALCU said. The organization and law firm are looking to represent impacted students in Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine. This matter, the ACLU said, includes a handful of students from Brown University and the Rhode Island School of Design who had their student statuses revoked. Additionally, the Department of Homeland Security had been conducting terminations of student visa statuses since at least March 1. Also, a student must fail to take full courses of study, engage in unauthorized employment, or be convicted of a violent crime with a potential sentence of more than a year, the ACLU said. None of those situations exist for those who would be represented in this case, the organization added. “The Trump administration's actions against these students are a blatant violation of due process,” ALCU of Rhode Island Executive Director Steven Brown said in a statement. “We’re a part of this class-action suit to protect them and others who have had to suddenly leave their studies and face possible deportation for absolutely no legitimate reason." The plaintiffs are asking a federal judge to reinstate the students’ statuses, allowing them to continue their studies at their respective higher education institutions, the ALCU said. James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on X at @James_Bessette.