On April 22, 2025, the ACLU of New Jersey, Rutgers Immigrant Community Assistance Project, and Gibbons, P.C., filed a complaint on behalf six current or recently graduated international students at Rutgers University who had their F-1 student immigration status effectively terminated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The lawsuit argues that the Trump administration’s abrupt termination of the students’ immigration records, and effectively their F-1 student status, is unlawful and violates the U.S. Constitution and Administrative Procedure Act. The effective revocation of the students’ status violates their due process rights as the government failed to meet its obligations to provide the students with advanced notice and a meaningful opportunity to respond. The filing also seeks an immediate injunction and restoration of the students’ immigration records and status while the case is pending, along with a motion for a temporary restraining order to prevent the students from being arrested, detained, or deported, for the duration of the case.
All of the students have remained in good standing with Rutgers and none of them have engaged in any conduct that would warrant termination of their status. The revocation of their status has real, immediate, and potentially irrevocable harm on the students, including impacting their education and career paths as well as their financial well-being and mental health. This unlawful action also puts the students at risk of immediate arrest, detention, and deportation and may prevent them from adjusting their status in the future or re-entering the United States at a later date.
On May 8, 2025, a federal judge granted a preliminary injunction on behalf the students who had their student status effectively terminated by ICE. The preliminary injunction requires the government to fully restore the students’ records retroactive to the original date of termination and provides due process protections by prohibiting the government from re-terminating the students’ records without at least 20 days' notice. The order also prohibits ICE from directly or indirectly imposing any consequences on the students arising out of ICE’s prior decision to terminate their records.
