Judge blocks Trump adminration’s efforts to revoke international students’ visas | World News

A federal judge Thursday issued a sweeping injunction temporarily blocking the Donald Trump adminration’s attempts to detain or deport thousands of international students whose visas were revoked earlier this year, calling the government’s actions likely unlawful and destabilizing, The New York Times reported.
The ruling comes just hours after the Department of Homeland Security stripped Harvard University of its SEVP certification, a move that would bar the institution from hosting international students. While the court did not rule directly on the Harvard case, legal experts told NYT that the injunction is broad enough that it could partially impede the adminration’s efforts to enforce the decision.
Judge Jeffrey White of the US Drict Court for the Northern Drict of California, who was appointed President George Bush, sharply criticized the adminration’s approach, writing in a 21-page opinion that federal officials “uniformly wreaked havoc” on the legal status of international students and likely “exceeded their authority.”
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“The relief the court grants provides plaintiffs with a measure of stability and certainty,” White wrote. “That they will be able to continue their studies or their employment without the threat of re-termination hanging over their heads.”
The order bars the federal government from arresting or deporting international students participating in the Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP), a Department of Homeland Security system that oversees student visas. It also prevents the adminration from revoking their legal immigration status while litigation continues.
In his ruling, White criticized the adminration’s shifting legal justifications and said there appeared to be a concerted attempt to place visa enforcement actions “beyond judicial review.” “At each turn in this and similar litigation across the nation,” White wrote, “defendants have abruptly changed course to satisfy courts’ expressed concerns. It is unclear how this game of whack-a-mole will end unless defendants are enjoined from skirting their own mandatory regulations.”
The injunction applies to all “similarly situated individuals” under SEVP, potentially covering a wide array of students across the country affected recent enforcement actions.
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