In a new move from the Department of Homeland Security, and specifically Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), international students who have extremely minor interactions with law enforcement (things as small as speeding tickets) are being targeting for the termination of their status in the United States and the revocation of their visas by the Department of State. We aren’t talking about hardened criminals, or even those who would be deportable under the rules that are in place. We’re talking about your college roommate who received a citation for running a stop sign.
It’s a shockingly unlawful action where ICE is skipping all procedural steps, rules, and safeguards that students have, and then threatening them with long-term immigration consequences and threats of arrest and deportation if they do not immediate depart the United States. Current reporting shows that approximately 4,700 students have been impacted across the country. It is plainly unlawful and violates basic due process principles, but the psychological impact it has on students means that for many, that doesn’t matter. Folks are often choosing to simply leave the U.S. rather than fighting back against an administration that is so hostile towards them—a decision I can’t really blame them for.
The good news is that, for those who want to stay, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Attorneys across the country, including here at J&H, have been filing lawsuits against the administration left and right on this issue, and the brave students who are standing up to the administration are saying, in no uncertain words, that the rules still matter. Due process still exists. Procedural safeguards are in place for a reason. And Courts across the country are listening. While this issue has only been ongoing for about a month, there have been dozens of emergency hearings, and judges appear to be, in large part, flabbergasted that ICE would take these actions, and ICE has had little answer for why this has happened.
For those impacted by this, I can only say that there is hope of this mistake being fixed. It is scary, the communications you receive are intimidating, and the fears for your future are well-founded. But you have rights on this issue, founded in both the law and the U.S. Constitution, and if preliminary results are any indication of what’s to come, this will be fixed in the end, especially for those who stand up for their rights.
