The ACLU Foundation of Connecticut filed a federal lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security and two of its top officials on April 24, 2025, for unlawfully terminating university students’ status records in the electronic system used to administer foreign students (Student and Exchange Visitor Information System or SEVIS). The suit, on behalf of four named plaintiffs and a proposed class of all affected Connecticut students, asks the U.S. District Court to reinstate their records on the system so that the students may resume their studies.
The Connecticut students whose records have been marked as terminated have been considerably disrupted in their studies. With terminated F-1 statuses, the students are at risk of being detained and placed into removal proceedings. And, their universities have told them that they may not do critical things to progress in their programs, which itself will cause them to lose F-1 status.
The lawsuit details how the unlawful termination of F-1 student visa status violates the Administrative Procedures Act and the Due Process Clause of the Constitution.
Jurisdictional Protection Granted: A federal judge issued an order of jurisdictional protection on the evening of April 24, 2025. The outcome of the order means that DHS cannot remove from Connecticut those international students whose SEVIS records remain terminated. While some students might have their status reinstated due to the Trump administration’s reversal of terminations on the same day, there are students in the state whose F-1 status has not been reinstated as of 7:00 pm on April 25, 2025. Those students are safe from harmful actions by DHS, and will remain free from the threat of deportation for termination of their SEVIS records.
Find the filing documents below.
